(QCOSTARICA) The increased number of cases of Zika in the country has prompted renewed concerns by Ministry of Health officials, warning that the worst is yet to come.
“We are in the worst times of the year and the worst is yet to come,” warned Rodrigo Marin, coordinator of Vector control at the Ministry of Health, on the radio program Nuesta Voz.
The warning came a day after the latest numbers of Zika cases in the country. The official count is 702.
Marin added that in 62% of the homegrown cases in the country affect women. Another way of putting it, the virus transmitted by the mosquito Aedes Aegypti (which also spreads Chikungunya and Dengue), affects six out of 10 women.
The official is asking the population to take preventive measures, such as clearing stagnant water around their property, “We can’t wait until the water rises to our neck to take action,” said Marin.
The communities most affected are: Santa Cruz, Orotina, Garabito, Esparza and Limón.
So far, health authorities have fumigated this year more than 500,000 homes and eliminated 2 million breeding sites. However, the effort has not been enough, in addition to the Zika cases, some 13,000 cases of dengue have been reported.
“If we are not afraid to Zika, we will have problems,” said Marin.
Editor’s note: I have taken to at night to burning ground coffee in areas like my living room, bedroom and work space. The smoke from the coffee keeps all types of flying insects away for hours. See my post here.
