(QPANAMA) he government of Panama continues the battle against dengue whose hemorrhagic variant caused two deaths this month, while Health Minister, Javier Díaz, requested today an extraordinary credit of two million dollars. Diaz announced a contingency plan against dengue and a current health alert until next January 31, 2014 to try to end the Aedes aegypti that keeps in check the health authorities in Panama and Central America.
According to the latest official figures from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) until last week 405 148 cases of dengue fever, 22 507 of severe dengue and 139 deaths in Central America, two of these in Panama, were reported.
The Ministry of Health admitted that to date, the bloodsucking mosquito transmitted disease to 2276 people, of which 6 received a diagnosis of severe including the deceased. Panama has declared a state of alert in order to confront mosquito, but the figure of two million reported by Diaz falls short of the projection made by the former director of the Health Region San Miguelito, Algis Torres, who believes that national campaign requires 11 million.
