Minister of Public Health Freddy Maduro has announced that the Ministry has set up a series of measures to prevent the Chikungunya virus, now present throughout the Caribbean, from entering the Dominican Republic. No cases have been reported here yet.
He said that in December last year the Pan-American Health Organization issued an epidemiological alert for the whole region, after the first cases were reported in St. Martin.
Chikungunya is a virus transmitted by the same mosquito as dengue, Aedes aegypti and by another mosquito called Aedes Albopictus. It has similar symptoms to dengue but with less painful muscle aches. It produces fever, headache and eye pain, vomiting and bleeding, and has a low mortality rate.
The Ministry has called on the public to keep water containers covered, use bleach in water tanks at least three times a week, replace water in flower pots with earth or sand or change the water daily and take anything out of the garden where there may be standing water such as bottles, pots and tires.
Other recommendations are that in the case of the appearance of symptoms, patients should only take medicine recommended by the medical profession and not take others such as aspirin, ibuprofen or other anti-inflammatories as they can worsen the disease.
Hidalgo asked local governments to start immediately to clean parks and public spaces where there is standing water or garbage and said that ports and airports were on alert for anyone entering the country with symptoms of the virus.
www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2014/1/27/308441/Salud-Publica-emite-una-serie-de-medidas-para-evitar-la-entrada-al-pais-de