Dengue alert declared “epidemic”

A DENGUE alert in Panama has been upgraded to “epidemic” as the number of confirmed cases reached 3,124 in the last two weeks.
Confirmed cases continue to escalate in spite of an ongoing campaign to uncover and attack breeding sites.

Health Minister, Javier Diaz also confirmed that 2013 has been declared an “epidemic year for dengue in Latin America."

In Costa Rica there are 48 000 people with dengue , and there are 117,000 cases in Colombia .
The last year that PAHO declared a dengue epidemic was 2010.
The health minister said that the only way to end the epidemic is to eliminate the breeding sites of Aedes aegypti, the transmitter of the disease.
To achieve this, he called for the third consecutive time, for representatives of civil society and government and NGO’s to address the recommendations to help fight the breeding problem.
Health authorities reiterated that dengue is not a problem for the administration, but of society in general and that all efforts must be made to control the disease, but the success is achieved only with the commitment of the community, responsible for the elimination of vector breeding sites.
In recent weeks breeding sites have been found in bird cages, water containers for domestic animals and flowers.
Diaz reminded people that insecticides kill adult vectors, but not eggs or larvae.
Organized groups in the country are providing 65% cooperation but 100 % participation is needed to see results, he said.
The support of the municipalities the National Police and magistrates is also needed where access to homes or business premises is denied.