Dengue

The latest drama to affect Buenos Aires is the outbreak of dengue in both the province and the city. Dengue is endemic throughout much of South America (in particular Bolivia, where over 50,000 cases have been reported and Northwest Argentina, with 10,000+ reported). However, there have been recent cases of travelers to Bolivia and NW Argentina returning to Buenos Aires with dengue or harboring the mosquitoes that transmit it.

As with everything that plagues this city, the fingerpointing is in full bloom. Opponents of the government are arguing that the government is underestimating the number of cases of dengue in Buenos Aires so as not to impact tourism and the government is denying the accusation, pointing to a report that acknowledged that 60 cases have been identified in the province and six in the capital city of BA.

While, for the most part, dengue is not fatal, it can cause death if misdiagnosed or mistreated. It causes severe aches and pains, high fever, and a reduction in white blood count. The government has been spraying the city regularly with anti-mosquito spray and is passing out literature on the streets describing the symptoms of dengue. There is no vaccine and no cure. The best advice is to lay down and stay in bed, since getting up could cause a blood clot or hemorrhage. Also, the professionals advice against taking aspirin for the fever as this could also induce hemorrhaging.

So far, there hasn't been a run on mosquito spray at the pharmacies, but to be safe, I still put it on at night and even bought a little electrical device that keeps mosquitos out of the apartment. The type of mosquito that transmits dengue to humans is normally found near stagnant water, so there is little chance of it working its way into apartment buildings, but it's still a bit discomforting to get bit (which is not all that uncommon) and then wonder - do I have dengue?