The Travel Doctor
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Dengue update Caribbean and Central America
Thursday, 15 July, 2010
The dengue fever virus is continuing to circulate in the Caribbean and Central American region at a high level. For example the President of the Dominican Republic College of Physicians has requested the Minister of Public Health to ask the President to declare a state of emergency
in face of the overwhelming number of cases.
The high incidence of dengue in Honduras has seriously impaired the ability to care for the sick in public and private hospitals, and in the Honduran army an average of 50-60 troops on a weekly basis are obliged to be relieved from duty after showing symptoms of dengue. Puerto Rico's top health official has warned that the US island could face its worst-ever dengue fever outbreak if people don't act quickly to destroy breeding areas for disease-spreading mosquitoes.
In Venezuela the Ministry of Health has reported that dengue cases climbed 81.8 percent this year. Taken with previous reports and concurrent reports from Brazil and other South American countries it is clear that dengue poses a significant threat in the entire region and travellers must ensure that they take every possible precaution to prevent being bitten by mosquitoes.
