Some 21 people, mostly children, all residents of the humble barrio of San Jose La Mina to the southeast of Santiago have been hospitalized with symptoms of dengue fever. This has unleashed panic among the inhabitants of the barrio who are blaming the outbreak on the Pontezuela Creek that flows through the area. Community leader Jose Francisco Consuegra is calling on the authorities to resume work on covering the creek with large pipes as a way of reducing the incidence of the fever. He said that workers from the Community Development Office had sprayed the area about a month ago and that if it had not been for that initiative there would be even more cases of dengue in the area. El Nuevo Diario said that ten of the victims are children between the ages of 3 and 10.