|PAHO Director Urges Intensified Efforts against Dengue|
Washington, March 25, 2009 (PAHO)—Dr. Mirta Roses, Director of
the Pan American Health Organization, today called on all
countries in the Americas to increase their efforts and work
together in the fight against dengue, which has broken out in
almost every country in the Region. Serious dengue outbreaks in
Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and significant numbers of
cases in other countries should put the entire Region on alert,
said Dr. Roses. She said it was urgent that governments
"strengthen surveillance, control mosquito breeding sites and
clinical management of the patient, and make avoiding deaths
their first priority." The only way to prevent dengue
transmission is to combat the disease-carrying mosquitoes, which
breed in small pools of water around homes. There is no vaccine
or treatment for dengue, but appropriate medical care frequently
saves the lives of patients with the most serious form of the
disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever. Dr. Ros