IF TAMARINDO WANTS, DENGUE WILL NOT AFFECT US

Winter has arrived! Guanacaste only needs the first rains to become completely green. However, the season drags some drawbacks, which are mostly manageable if people collaborate. That is the case of Dengue. The number of people affected depends on the preventive measures applied by the communities and the degree of responsibility we have, for the sake of having the least amount of people infected. The Ministry of Health has a very important participation. It is the government agency responsible for ensuring the eradication of Aedes aegypti and for implementing educational campaigns.

In Tamarindo and Langosta, The Tamarindo News found and documented the presence of officials of the Ministry of Health, who conducted an intense fumigation work at both sites. "We applied a full focal treatment. The role of the Ministry of Health in Tamarindo has been addressed in two ways: we are preventing, through an educational campaign, and fumigating with a product that dissolves in water, which is harmless to humans," said Dr. Rodrigo Marin Rodriguez, National Coordinator of the Dengue Control of the Ministry of Health to The Tamarindo News. "This effort does not mean that the danger of infection is not latent. Fumigation practices kill mosquitoes but not the larvas," he said.  This happens since it develops in standing water, including flower vases, tires, water wells of any size, pots and absolutely any container that does not drain liquid and may become an enabling environment for the mosquitoes to lay their eggs and for the larva to burst. "The information and prevention work was developed through a talk given in Tamarindo to a lot of people, whom we informed about the existence of breeding sites in most of the houses and hotels, even after fumigating. We raised awareness on several things, including the most important of all: Dengue kills! It is a serious viral disease that needs medical care and monitoring; self-medication is not appropriate. The day in which you may feel the best is probably when the body is suffering the most.”

The only way of controlling it is to eliminate all the breeding sites in houses and hotels. "Guanacaste has presented 3400 cases this year and the country as a whole has recorded an increase of 600% in the number of patients," explained the doctor, who added, "Weeks 23 to 42 of each year are the most problematic. This situation justifies the increase in people infected. One of our concerns is that people who had the disease once are becoming infected again; so increasing the chances of contracting the hemorrhagic variety, which is much more dangerous. There are four serotypes of dengue; from 1 to 4, just to call them somehow. When a person has been infected for the first time, s/he becomes immune to that serotype in specific, but not to the other three. Therefore, s/he is more easily exposed to getting sick from hemorrhagic dengue. There is no vaccine for any of the serotypes." Dengue fever causes flu-like symptoms: joint pain, fever, and headache. Hydration is extremely necessary. In case of presenting these symptoms, go immediately to the nearest health center. In the event of resulting positive for dengue, the patient must undergo daily blood tests in order to monitor the level of platelets in the blood, which, in case of presenting a tendency to go down, may complicates the health conditions of the patient. "The change of attitude that we perceived, as well as the willingness to work assure us a decline on dengue cases. I will like to make emphasis on the cooperative efforts made by the communities of Tamarindo and Langosta, as well as their acceptance to our staff, allowing them to fumigate inside their homes and buildings and providing them with lodging and food,” concluded Dr. Rodrigo Rodríguez Marín.

We have the solution in our hands. If our homes, businesses and vacant lots are cleaned and if dengue breeding sites are eliminated, we are investing in our health, our families and the people that visit us.