Important Notice Re: Malaria - Please Read.

[NALs]

I believe that you think you are doing a good thing by trying to minimize the impact on tourists in this matter but in actuality by marginalizing their feelings you are scaring them. Your cavalier statements about dengue fever for example only forments panic due to ignorance on the part of tourists.

What ever I have done can't be worst than what the media has done. After all, according to much of the media, people think the entire country is infested with Malaria and everybody is getting it. You and I know that is not true.

And I really can't believe people would just accept everything they see and read either here or in the media as 100% facts. Though, what I post has good reasons, people should always do more research on their own. Hopefully, by my postings people would become even more interested in this subject and do more research on the internet since they are online anyways. It won't take long for them to find correct information about any of this, information that makes it clear that the Dominican world is not ending.

Of course, my purpose would have less of an effect since I had to spill it out to explain it to you on this post. Other times (and I am not saying this out of anger or anything, in fact, I am feeling indifferent right now) you should PM me this type of info, that way the entire world is not involved.

If in fact it is an urban problem (the last time I checked Santo Domingo was way down on the list of hot DR tourist destinations and BTW I do not accept your dengue/urban statement until I verify your contention, neither do I dispute it) then why even bring it up in the context of what is primarily a rural La Altagracia problem. You are doing more harm than good. Your good intentions aside, what tourists want to hear is that your government is doing all that it possibly can to solve the problem. They don't want to hear that you don't consider it a problem or that there are bigger problems.

This is only a temporary outbreak, after all, its called an OUTBREAK for something! Soon it will subside and everything will be back to normal, meaning Malaria rates will diminish considerably.

And Dengue Fever is an urban neusance (spelling?) rather than a problem. As you said, Dengue Fever insidents are way down in SDQ (considering how the rates have increased in other tropical countries like Jamaica and Mexico), but its still around. If people don't want to face any risks, then move to the moon. The last time I heard, the places many of these tourist come from have their own mosquito borne and spread diseases such as West Nile Virus. In the Northeastern US you even have to watch for Lime disease, that's like their version of Malaria! and yet people are not scared at that. When California had its Malaria outbreak, people were not very much aware of that either!

Why all this hype on the DR? I understand it must be reported, but not hyped beyond the actual scope.

Keep in mind that their local media at home and their governments are telling them that there is a problem but a stranger on a DR bulletain board is telling them that there is little or no problem, and even if there is a problem, watch out for dengue fever - it is more prevalent. Who do you expect will be believed?

But it is. Malaria is of little concern, more people are aware of Dengue than Malaria here in the DR. Given that 99% of tourist don't venture out of the resorts anyways, then what is the problem?

Dengue is found in urban areas, primarily in the crammed slum areas where pools of stagnant water are widespread. Again, Dengue is not severe or even moderate here, the population is not shrinking, so what is the problem?

You seem, by your reactions, to think that I am attacking either you or your country as you continue to defend something which would best be defeated by uniting to eliminate ingorance and set people at ease. A tourist witout a care in the world is a happy visitor who spends lots of money. An uptight tourist is one who stays on the resort and contributes the minimum to the DR's economy.

I have not taken such attitude of feeling attacked, but if I appear to be in such mood, then I apologize. That was not my intention.

However, our little discussion here is probably doing more harm than good. Next time, PM the information to me rather than posting it in the open, thank you.

 

[mido]

There is one thing I don't understand:

I checked with local doctors who are working at different clinics including the local public hospital and they didn't have a malaria case in the last 5 years.
Could it be that only Canadians can get malaria in Punta Cana?
(excluding the ones who live here)

 

[NALs]

There is one thing I don't understand:

I checked with local doctors who are working at different clinics including the local public hospital and they didn't have a malaria case in the last 5 years.
Could it be that only Canadians can get malaria in Punta Cana?
(excluding the ones who live here)

You think Mosquitos have developed a taste for Canadian blood? Kidding...

No. The thing about this "outbreak" (I am now contemplating if it deserves to be called an outbreak at all) is very localized, I REPEAT, VERY LOCALIZED.

As with everything in this Caribbean wonder of ours, the possibility that its one or two actual mosquitos that wondered into a couple of resorts in Punta Cana could very well be the culprit of all of this!

Punta Cana as we know it, has many resorts that are very widespread up and down the coast. It appears that resorts near the Bavaro Lagoon are the one's experiencing the malaria deal (the Barcelo and Melia properties) while all the other properties have not reported anything. The incidents in Duarte province were all very near the Los Haitises park, which is a very swampy area with a hoards of mosquitos that will eat you up alive! But, that is right in the swamp. San Francisco de Macoris has not really seen a Malaria case, only a case where a person from SFM went near Los Haitises and then got sick.

This malaria deal is extremely localized, thus I am confuse at all this hype about this!

In addition, the entire country is being demonized because of this. People are forgetting that other areas of Punta Cana, all of La Romana-Bayahibe, Juan Dolio-Guayacanes, SDQ-Boca Chica, Puerto Plata-Sosua-Cabarete and Samana tourist zones are not experience any outbreak of any sort!

The only place where tourist seem to be getting the disease is at Punta Cana and only at the Melia and Bavaro complex. Anybody who has been there knows that those two hotels are virtual cities in themselves, but a possibility of hosting around 1,000 visitors at any given time. Notice, only a handful of people has gotten sick.

If this was a REAL outbreak, wouldn't you expect something like 20% to 33% of the tourist to be infected? But, that is NOT happening. The number of tourist infected is so low that it probably doesn't even measures up to 1% of all the tourist at that given time when this first came out. Maybe that is why the media have not used percentages in this, since the media tends to use percentages to discribe a situation, especially if the percentages give the impression that a place is near anarchy! In addition, the number of Dominicans and foreigners living in the DR who have gotten the disease (especially the Punta Cana zone) have not increased significantly, if at all! This Malaria hype is so out of hand that anyone who comes to the DR starts to wonder what was it all about.

Most of us who are here in the DR are a bit confuse at this, after all, Dominicans love to gossip and when an outbreak of something (even if its small) gets quite of attention here. Look, when a little crime poped up, people talked about it as if the mob was here! Quite frankly, many people are not even aware of this so called Malaria outbreak!

I think this Malaria fiasco being created is extremely unnecesary. This is similar to the Malaria outbreak that occured in Florida and California a few years ago. The difference was that the media did not made a huge fuss about it!

 

[mido]

You think Mosquitos have developed a taste for Canadian blood? Kidding...

No. The thing about this "outbreak" (I am now contemplating if it deserves to be called an outbreak at all) is very localized, I REPEAT, VERY LOCALIZED.

As with everything in this Caribbean wonder of ours, the possibility that its one or two actual mosquitos that wondered into a couple of resorts in Punta Cana could very well be the culprit of all of this!

Punta Cana as we know it, has many resorts that are very widespread up and down the coast. It appears that resorts near the Bavaro Lagoon are the one's experiencing the malaria deal (the Barcelo and Melia properties) while all the other properties have not reported anything. The incidents in Duarte province were all very near the Los Haitises park, which is a very swampy area with a hoards of mosquitos that will eat you up alive! But, that is right in the swamp. San Francisco de Macoris has not really seen a Malaria case, only a case where a person from SFM went near Los Haitises and then got sick.

This malaria deal is extremely localized, thus I am confuse at all this hype about this!

In addition, the entire country is being demonized because of this. People are forgetting that other areas of Punta Cana, all of La Romana-Bayahibe, Juan Dolio-Guayacanes, SDQ-Boca Chica, Puerto Plata-Sosua-Cabarete and Samana tourist zones are not experience any outbreak of any sort!

The only place where tourist seem to be getting the disease is at Punta Cana and only at the Melia and Bavaro complex. Anybody who has been there knows that those two hotels are virtual cities in themselves, but a possibility of hosting around 1,000 visitors at any given time. Notice, only a handful of people has gotten sick.

If this was a REAL outbreak, wouldn't you expect something like 20% to 33% of the tourist to be infected? But, that is NOT happening. The number of tourist infected is so low that it probably doesn't even measures up to 1% of all the tourist at that given time when this first came out. Maybe that is why the media have not used percentages in this, since the media tends to use percentages to discribe a situation, especially if the percentages give the impression that a place is near anarchy! In addition, the number of Dominicans and foreigners living in the DR who have gotten the disease (especially the Punta Cana zone) have not increased significantly, if at all! This Malaria hype is so out of hand that anyone who comes to the DR starts to wonder what was it all about.

Most of us who are here in the DR are a bit confuse at this, after all, Dominicans love to gossip and when an outbreak of something (even if its small) gets quite of attention here. Look, when a little crime poped up, people talked about it as if the mob was here! Quite frankly, many people are not even aware of this so called Malaria outbreak!

I think this Malaria fiasco being created is extremely unnecesary. This is similar to the Malaria outbreak that occured in Florida and California a few years ago. The difference was that the media did not made a huge fuss about it!

I am living in Villas Bavaro, which is exactly between Barcelo and Melia complexes and so do about 500 more people and none of them contracted malaria.
And many of these people are living there for years and are subject to be bitten by mosquitos every day, including myself.

 

[NALs]

I am living in Villas Bavaro, which is exactly between Barcelo and Melia complexes and so do about 500 more people and none of them contracted malaria.
And many of these people are living there for years and are subject to be bitten by mosquitos every day, including myself.

That's exactly what I am saying!

This is a very localized outbreak, I wonder if it can even be called an outbreak!

This is like the typical showers that move across our beautiful island, while on one side of the road it could be pouring like hell, the other side is not just dry, but sunny and hot!

I suspect that the same deal is happening with this Malaria deal, except that the media is blowing it out of proportion, just how they did with the crime issue, etc.

Look, the earthquake scared a heck more people and many tourist felt that. It was one of the strongest earthquakes the island had experienced in 40 to 50 years or so! What did the international media said about it? Absolutely nothing, at the very most a quick written reference to it on a fast moving ticker on CNN!

The media is blowing this Malaria deal way out of proportion! If it was an outbreak, at the very least, 10 people should have been infected at Villas Bavaro which is at the suppose groud zero of all of this and yet, not even one has been infected!

This is just a way for the media to sell. They know Canadians love the DR and as such, any news from the DR would ensure many people will be watching their news coverage!

This Malaria deal is not as bad as the media is making it seem. In fact, I wonder if it can even be consider to be bad at all...

 

[mobrouser]

the canadian media is not blowing this out of proportion.

plain and simple they are reporting that 7 tourists have contracted malaria-actually the most dangerous variety of malaria-since October and that tourists should consult with a physician prior to leaving for their trip to Punta Cana. And most definitely see a physician if they experience malaria type symptoms within 6 month of returning.

One news report I saw made mention of the Red Cross refusal of blood donations if the donor had travelled to RD in the past 6 months. (If you are at all aware of the crisis the Cdn Red Cross is in right now you would understand the need for this precaution) The reporter suggested that donors should plan to donate before their trip to ensure that blood supplies remain at a stable level. no-one is saying don't go to RD, no-one in the media is blowing this out of proportion.

mob

 

[caribbean_bride]

So do you think it is safer to stay at a different resort than the Melia?

 

[caribbean_bride]

Speaking of Media. I have not heard one thing about it on the american news. Or even in the American newspapers. At least not that i have found.

 

[NALs]

So do you think it is safer to stay at a different resort than the Melia?

I personally think the Melia and the Bavaro are still pretty safe, considering that only 7 Canadians have been infected.

These two resorts can hold over 1,000 people (they are huge but never feel crowded even at full capacity). These resorts also have one of the highest occupancy rates in all seasons in the entire Caribbean, as such, 7 Canadians being infected out of a huge number of people that were porbably there doesn't require to be considered as an outbreak, in my opinion.

But, if you want to feel even safer, then head to another resort. Punta Cana has over 30 mega-resorts, only 2 have had an extreme minority of its visitors infected with malaria.

Then again, you can always visit resorts in other parts of the DR also! La Romana-Bayahibe have some spectacular beaches as well, Juan Dolio and Guayacanes beaches are nice enough to merit a week's vacation there. The north coast is as beautiful as ever with many resorts as well. The Samana Peninsula is heaven on earth, its the most beautiful peace of real estate on the planet hands down. Malaria as we know it is virtually non-existent in those other Dominican destinations.

My overall point is that the Malaria deal is very localized and that people should worry about Malaria at the same level they worry about getting an upset stomach during their stay.

That's all.

It's so nice and warm here in the DR. The palm trees, the sunshine, the white sands, the nice people. You don't want to miss all of that simply because a malaria case was found on a minority of the visitors who visited an area that has a very localized malaria problem that will most likely disappear in a few weeks or so. Paradise is waiting for all you Canadians who are in the process of getting frost bites, don't hesitate too much! Paradise is waiting!

 

[AnnaC]

What I find interesting is that last year while the DR was still rocking and rolling from the aftershocks not one word about the earthquake made the newspapers or TV here or the States. People were still being shipped over. When I bought my ticket in Oct/ 03 I told my travel agent and she looked bewildered. Never said anything one way or another. :bandit:

Hey we have west nile virus in Ontario. We haven't moved out yet.

 

[Mirador]

I found this in http://www.news-medical.net/?id=5240. I hope it helps.

Mirador


Although indigenous transmission of malaria was eradicated from the United States in the late 1940s, every year about 1,500 malaria cases occur in the United States. Most infections occur in people who travel abroad, and one of every 100 U.S. travelers with diagnosed malaria die.

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reviewed records of U.S. travelers who died of malaria between 1963 and 2001. Of 123 deaths, most (105 people or 85.4 percent) were considered preventable.

For 83 of these, the patient's own actions may have contributed to death. The factors that contributed to death included not taking necessary preventive medicines; not following the prescribed regimen for the medications, or not seeking medical attention promptly (within two days) when symptoms occurred.

For 70 of the 105 deaths (66.7 percent), medical errors may have contributed to the deaths. Among these errors were clinicians not prescribing the correct preventive medicines; not diagnosing malaria when the patient first reported symptoms; not beginning treatment promptly after diagnosis, or not treating the patient with the appropriate antimalarial drug.

 

[Dolores1]

The special report on malaria in the DR has been updated. See http://www.dr1.com/news/2004/120304_malaria.shtml

 

[Lisa Cai]

Not changing plans

I have never posted before so I hope that I am doing this right...

About the malaria "outbreak".

I just wanted to say that my husband & I along with some friends are going back to Punta Cana for the third time in February. Each year we have brought new people with us. We LOVE it there and want our friends to experience the beauty of the Dominican Republic.

There is no way that we are going to change our destination. We have been looking forward to this trip since we got back from the last one. The media tends to make things sound so much worse and we are not falling for it.

We will look in to what meds. we need to take or if we will need meds. Nothing wrong with being smart....BUT....

I really hope that people think before they decide to change destinations. It would be a shame to see the DR lose a tone of money because people have blown things out of proportion.

We live in Ontario, Canada and I would like to think that after the SARS and WEST NILE problems that went on here we would NOT over react to this situation. We did everything that we could to get travellers to come here while the media was scaring them away. We lost a lot of money when travellers decided not to come here.

I sincerely hope that we would be more sensitive the this.

Looking forward to getting back to the DR!

Lisa

 

[Jane J.]

This from today's DR1 News:

Canada commends malaria measures
The Canadian Embassy in the Dominican Republic praised the efforts of the local health and tourism authorities in preventing and controlling malaria in the DR. Ambassador Adam Blackwell cited their professionalism and their swift response in dealing with the recent outbreak, and said he felt completely assured that the measures taken by the Pan-American Health Organization (OPS) would help mitigate the impact made on local tourism and keep the disease in check. These measures included preventative fumigation, sanitary facilities installed at construction sites in touristic areas and the implementation of a national plan that would encompass all areas of tourism in the country. In a letter sent to the Listin Diario?s editor, Blackwell emphasized the swelling numbers of Canadian vacationers who arrive in the country every year. He indicated that the 2004-05 season will see 180 flight arrivals per week and 500,000 Canadian tourists. These numbers would represent a significant increase over 2002, the year in which Blackwell arrived in the DR, when only 70 flights came per week and approximately 200,000 Canadians visited the DR.
Blackwell said that after he had held conversations with the Canadian media last week to outline all that was being done here, the alarming articles referring to malaria in the DR have stopped appearing in the press.

 

[susanne]

It is really very simple:

1. Malaria is to be taken seriously if international health authorities issue an alert. They have done for the Punta Cana area. They stress that this is a local outbreak which means that travellers to other touristic areas in the DR are not affected.

2. Malaria can be prevented. Quite easily. By Chloroquine in the DR, preferably combined with making certain you don't get bitten at night. Wear long sleeves, trousers and a net around your bed. If you want to chose between the two methods I would personally prefer the latter, which can reduce the risk considerably without medication, but a combination is best. If in doubt, ask your physician.

3. Malaria is absolutely no reason to cancel a holiday. It is one of the little nuisances that can be a side effect of stepping into the Tropics. It is not the Plague. Personally, I do not understand tourists who will consider cancelling a holiday because of fear of malaria but would never dream of taking shots against Hep A, which is far more common almost everywhere in the World and is much more likely to give you problems. A lot of tourists behave really irrationally when it comes to health:-(

4. So no, the health authorities do not blow this out of proportion. But the individual traveller may be doing so.

Best regards,
Susanne

 

[NALs]

Susanne, incase you are not aware of this, the Malaria outbreak is over already.

There have not been any new Malaria case since December 1st. Dominican authorities did a swift and excellent job at tackling this problem and so far, Malaria has not poped up either in Punta Cana or anywhere else for that matter.

I repeat, the outbreak is over.

 

[Dolores1]

CDC requires an entire month to go by without a case to consider removing the alert warning.

So the warning could well continue through January. We will be posting an update of our report on the situation by Wednesday, as soon as we receive the updates from the Ministry of Public Health.

 

[NALs]

CDC requires an entire month to go by without a case to consider removing the alert warning.

So the warning could well continue through January. We will be posting an update of our report on the situation by Wednesday, as soon as we receive the updates from the Ministry of Public Health.

From what is currently happening, such month could end in a couple of weeks or so.

I think the outbreak is over simply based on the fact that not one more case has come into existence since then. But, lets wait until you update us on the situation this Wednesday.