MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Dengue emergency in Bolivia's most populated provinces

Bolivia declared this week a state of sanitary emergency in four of the country's provinces following a bout of 250 reported cases of dengue, a disease transmitted by the “Aedes Aegypti” and which can be deadly in its haemorrhagic strain.

The emergency will be backed by 15.000 members of the Bolivian Armed Forces that will be involved in medical support activities plus prevention such as fumigation and when possible elimination of stagnated water and or sewage where the mosquitoes proliferate. "We are sending our resources to the provinces of Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Cochabamba, where most of the cases have been reported", said Rear Admiral Jose Luis Cabas, Chief of Staff of Bolivia's armed forces. The four provinces also concentrate the most populated areas of the country. Cabas added that the most important outbreaks had been located in the city of Santa Cruz, in Villa Tunari to the north of the capital La Paz, Riberalta and Cobija. The emergency extends for three months which coincides with the rainy season of the tropical areas of landlocked Bolivia. Last year 1.900 dengue cases were diagnosed in Bolivia, but only 15 of the deadly haemorrhagic variant, and fortunately no reported deaths, according to the country's sanitary authorities. Dr. Juan Carlos Arraya head of the Epidemiology Department from the Health ministry said that two of the four known strains of dengue "have been detected in the country, so we could be exposed to a serious threat of the haemorrhagic". "We have planned a saturation campaign with sanitary brigades, supported by the Army, involved in massive fumigations in the most exposed areas, particularly along border towns", said Arraya. Dengue is endemic in certain areas of neighbouring Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. According to the World Health Organization dengue Dengue is transmitted by the bite of an Aedes mosquito infected with any one of the four dengue viruses. It occurs in tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world. Symptoms appear 3?14 days after the infective bite with a febrile illness that affects infants, young children and adults. Symptoms range from a mild fever, to incapacitating high fever, with severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, and rash. There are no specific antiviral medicines for dengue. It is important to maintain hydration Dengue haemorrhagic fever (fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, bleeding) is a potentially lethal complication, affecting mainly children. Early clinical diagnosis and careful clinical management by experienced physicians and nurses increase survival of patients