Two deaths as complex dengue threat spreads

Panama's  Ministry of Health (MoH)   has reported seven new suspected cases of  complex hemorrhagic dengue which has already caused the deaths of two children.

A fumigation and cleaning operation is underway  to eliminate mosquito breeding places of  the Aedes aegypti, mosquito  which transmits dengue.

According to official records, there have been 307 cases of dengue fever type 2 complex or hemorrhagic.

The number of suspected cases, although stable, rose to 13 on Friday and the Health officials await results of laboratory tests to confirm whether it is "complex dengue."

The new cases are patients from Mano de Piedra, Santa Librada, township and the  Arnulfo Arias  district of Arraijan.

The patients  have been taken to the Social Security Hospital, Santo Tomas and the El Nino Hospital. All are in stable condition and under observation, according to a statement from the MoH.

Health Minister Franklin Vergara, said people should cooperate in eliminating mosquito breeding sites.

He said that there are three types of dengue (1, 2 and 3) in Panama. The present threat is from number 2 which was last detected in 2005.

Vergara said that people with high fever, muscle pain, joint, head, eyes, and severe abdominal pain should go immediately to the nearest health facility.

Garbage authority administrator Enrique Ho Fernandez, has  appealed to the conscience  of residents  to help the authority  fight mosquito breeding sites by cleaning their homes and avoiding the accumulation of trash.