Thus, the regions respond to the epidemiological alert from the central government to deal with these viral diseases (transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito), especially chikungunya, whose balance so far this year is about 12,200 infected, according to ABC Color newspaper.
The Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development (MADS) issued Decision No. 79/2023 declaring the entire national territory in an “environmental emergency,” to control solid waste exposed to mosquito breeding sites.
The strategy orders “the adoption of all necessary protective measures” and stipulates the obligation of municipal authorities to provide the above-mentioned contingency plans.
The document states that Madis will oversee and implement interventions to enforce strict compliance with said resolution and counter infections of dengue, Zika virus and chikungunya, which emerged strongly in October and are now spreading to almost all parts of the country.
“Treatment beds for children – recall ABC Color – are already saturated, while two out of five nurses and three out of seven doctors are resting. The viral phenomenon is so serious that the Ministry of Health and Welfare has issued an epidemiological alert, given its atypical behaviour.
According to medical sources, more than 30,000 cases of infection with the current epidemic are five times the historical record, and the 33 deaths will increase – as the newspaper confirms – “if civil society, municipalities and the state do not face the situation very seriously.”
For his part, the director of the National Service for the Elimination of Malaria (Ceneba), Gustavo Chamorro, revealed that mosquitoes breed in 95 percent of homes in Asuncion and other cities.
Other specialists warn that despite the experience of more than three decades since the emergence of viral diseases in Paraguay, and awareness campaigns about breeding sites, many citizens discount measures such as avoiding the accumulation of water in containers.
In the last seven days alone, hospital institutions have reported five deaths from chikungunya, said Director of Health Surveillance, Guillermo Sequera.
“That last week it was evaluated – the expert describes – that 20 were registered in the hospital, 10 of them under one year old, and the rest of the sector in the sixties, while another group of those affected appeared, between the ages of 25 and 30, mainly pregnant women.”
RO/AP
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