Although only one confirmed case of dengue fever has been reported in Chapala this year, health authorities have detected increasing local presence of the type of mosquito that spreads the unpleasant viral disease.
Jose de Jesus Gonzalez Rodriguez, director of Chapala’s state-operated Centro de Salud, called a press conference this week to announce a community-wide dengue awareness and prevention campaign to be launched immediately in cooperation with the municipal government. He said that the program was pulled together after the Jalisco health department set out traps at various key points to register a count of eggs laid by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, finding the highest incidence in central Chapala.
The thrust of the campaign is to encourage residents to help reduce proliferation of mosquitoes by eliminating focal points where the rainfall accumulates, providing an ideal medium for the insects to reproduce. They may also lay eggs in toilet tanks and on damp shower floors.
Dengue prevention brigades will be dispatched to different neighborhoods throughout the month of August to alert people to the dangers of the disease and divulge recommended precautions. Sound car announcements, along with printed flyers and posters, will be employed to urge householders to keep their surroundings free of stagnant water by covering cisterns and water storage tanks, turning empty buckets and other types of containers upside down, ridding their homes of junk materials and eradicating weed growth. The Chapala sanitation department and private recycling outfits are being lined up to take part in the removal of rubbish and waste materials.The campaign will be focused on the western sector of Chapala on August 7 through 9, the downtown area on August 10 and the northeast side of town on August 14 and 15. Ajijic will be targeted on August 16, 17 and 21, San Antonio Tlayacapan on August 22 and 23, San Nicolas de Ibarra August 24, Santa Cruz de la Soledad August 24 and 28, and finally Atotonilquillo on August 29.
Dengue in detail
Dengue fever is a disease caused by any one of four different but related types of virus. It is transmitted from sick persons to healthy individuals by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
Symptoms of dengue often begin with the sudden onset of a high fever occurring four to seven days after infection. The disease is sometimes referred to breakbone fever because it usually brings on joint and muscle aches along with extreme fatigue. Other symptoms include headache (especially severe pain behind the eyes), a red rash appearing over most of the body, increased skin sensitivity, nausea and vomiting, and swollen lymph nodes. Blood testing is required to confirm infection.
There is no specific treatment for the illness, which normally lasts for a week or more, provided there are no complications. Patients require bed rest and sufficient intake of fluids to prevent dehydration. Acetaminophen is usually prescribed to relieve fever and discomfort.
A more severe form of the disease — dengue hemorrhagic fever — can lead to internal bleeding, shock and death. Early symptoms are similar to those of common dengue fever, but after several days the patient becomes irritable, restless and sweaty. It usually strikes persons who have previously suffered dengue and are later infected by a different type of the virus.
There is no vaccine available to prevent dengue contagion. Personal protection measures to reduce the risk of infection include the use of repellents, insecticides, netting and clothing to limit exposure to mosquito bites. Community abatement programs implemented to keep the spread of the disease in check may involve fumigation to eradicate mosquito populations and elimination of habitat where the insects breed.
According to Mexican health experts, the Aedes aegypti genus appears to have undergone mutations that have allowed the insect to adapt and survive in cooler climates and at higher altitudes than before, accounting for an increased incidence of dengue fever in places such as Guadalajara.
Jalisco health authorities have made huge strides in fighting the disease over the past several years. The number of confirmed cases dropped from 4,919 in 2009 to just 175 last year. So far in 2012, the health department has seen just 74 cases of classic dengue, and only six cases of the hemorrhagic fever.