Costa Rica dengue cases rise to 41,510 with no deaths

The Costa Rica News (TCRN) – Costa Rica recorded a total of 41,510 cases of dengue fever, of which 111 were of the severe hemorrhagic variety, but the authorities have not recorded any deaths so far, official sources said today.

The director of the Ministry of Health Surveillance, Mary Ethel Trejos, told the press that despite the high number of patients, the largest in the history of Costa Rica, the curve of new cases has been declining for six weeks.

The official said that November will mark the end of the epidemic that is transmitted by the mosquito “Aedes aegypti” which appeared in Costa Rica for the first time in 1993.

The 41,510 cases accumulate since last October is the highest in the country for one year only, which surpassed the previous record of 37,798 registered during the twelve months of 2005.

Data from the Ministry of Health indicates that in 2013 there have been 111 cases of severe dengue and 5,219 people had to be hospitalized because of the virus for an average of three days.

The places most affected by dengue this year has been the Pacific coastal provinces, Guanacaste and Puntarenas, where health authorities have been strengthening educational campaigns and destroying mosquito breeding sites and spraying.

The Costa Rican authorities insist that people should take extra precautions, especially the elimination of standing water sites, which are the main mosquito breeding sites.

According to the Ministry of Health, since the emergence of dengue in 1993, Costa Rica, a country with 4.7 million inhabitants, accumulated 305 666 cases, of which 1,056 have been serious variety.

In these 20 years, deaths from the virus have 22, the last being in 2010, when there were four. The year with the most dengue deaths was 2007, with a total of 8. (EFE)

The Costa Rica News (TCRN)

San Jose Costa Rica