EscucharPuntarenas, Costa Rica - Bellavista, a small community of La Gran Chacarita, in Puntarenas, was converted into a practice center for health authorities planning an intensive campaign against dengue for the whole province of Puntarenas.
The routine of this area-- one of scarce economic resources, where many are undocumented foreigners -- was suddenly shattered by the presence of a team of 17 technicians from the Ministry of Health and the Social Security and Health Administration (CCSS in Spanish). This village was chosen because it has the characteristics of an area with a high risk for infection.
Once there, the technicians ordered the implementation of the same plan which will be applied to the entire population on Tuesday:
Search out possible nesting places for the mosquito Aedes aegypti , the transmitter of the dengue virus.
Fumigate each one of the 400 houses in Bellavista.
Register new cases of dengue which, for particular circumstances, had not been reported to clinics and hospitals.
Initiate a survey of the community to determine, among other things, how many and which neighborhoods had previously suffered from dengue.
The operation, which began at 7 a.m. yesterday and ended at noon, included the fumigation of the area from La Punta to Barranca, in two shifts: at 5 a.m. and at 4 p.m.
Ricardo Arroyo, resident and leader of the community, recognized that one of the main problems they face is the collection of solid waste. ``We don't have trash cans and, although we asked the city to comply with its collection schedules, we have had no answer''.
These actions amount to an emergency operation for sanitation authorities after news arrived of the first fatality from hemorragic dengue, Jesús Mora-Trejos, 78, on August 27 and another case registered in Quepos de Aquirre.
Until now, in only Monseñor Sanabria Hospital, in Puntarenas, where the new epidemic has exploded, 35 suspected cases of the classic dengue with manifestations of hemorrhaging have have been registered. For example, they received four new cases Thursday night.
In contrast, at Max Terán Hospital, in Quepos, no new cases were registered yesterday, according to Dr. Luis Andrés-Mora of the Emergency Branch.
Meanwhile, in Orotina, Rosa Calderón, area director of the Ministry of Health, admitted that only this week they had registered 50 cases and that they receive daily 15 to 20 patients suspected of having classic dengue with manifestations of hemorrhaging
