Guillermo Gonzalvez, director of the National Center of Tropical Diseases (Cenet) said that malaria cases in the DR this year are significantly lower than last year. He says there have been 720 cases reported (404 Dominicans and 311 Haitians). He says the Dominican government needs to sign a health agreement with the Haitian authorities to eradicate the illness in the entire island. He said this is necessary as it is not possible to rid one side of the island of the disease, given the flow of people from one country to the other. Gonzalvez says the disease becomes fatal only when a proper diagnosis is not made in time. Symptoms are high fevers, profuse sweating, headache. The illness is sometimes confused with hepatitis, salmonella and typhoid fever. Most residents of the DR do not take antimalarial medicine. The US Center for Disease Control says that “travelers to rural areas of the Dominican Republic, especially in the provinces bordering Haiti, are at risk for malaria. There is no risk in resorts in the Dominican Republic.” Gonzalvez explains that good mosquito repellent (containing DEET) is efficient as the disease is spread by mosquito bites. Gonzalvez says this year dengue is also under control as there have only been 34 confirmed cases this year, down from last year’s 2,000 confirmed cases.
