[NYTr] Brazil Dengue Death Toll at 121 - Nearly Half a Million Cases

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Every time a chicken dies in Southeast Asia, the CDC and the Mighty
Wurlitzer of its media machine start screeching about the deadly bird
flu (though it is actually rarely, if ever, confirmed as the actual
cause of death of the bird by culturing for the virus).  In the USA one
old person with pneumonia who dies of what is diagnosed as "West Nile"
virus (who knows how accurately) sets off headlines and weeks of aerial
spraying or community fighting over it. 

Brazil, meanwhilemreports there have been 480,000 cases of deadly
dengue fever -- and 121 deaths.  With dengue, unlike Bird Flu,
there are no fat contracts to be had by Big Pharma for patenting a new
nifty drug against a virus that hasn't yet been demonstrated to cross
species, of course. To fight dengue, you need to fight the mosquito
that transmits it, which means -- RIGHT: public health measures! No
profit in that.  Cuba has had a largely successful record fighting
dengue, at some cost to health when they've had to spray, but for the
most part they have a vigilant campaign of fighting mosquito breeding
areas with cadres of public health workers and neighborhood
committees carrying out regular sanitation work (cleaning up standing
pools of water, blocked drains, that sort of boring, effective work).

In addition, Cuba's biochemical industry has been working hard on
developing non-toxic organic pesticides, anti-rodent preparations and
anti-parasitic drugs that have been used with success against disease
vectors in the third world. A few years ago Pastors for Peace tried
to bring back a small, symbolic donation of one of these, the
rodenticide Biorat, manufactured by Cuba's Labiofam, to the slums of
the US. Naturally it was seized at the US border as a potential
bioterror agent.-NY Transfer]


Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com

Brazil Dengue Death Toll at 121

Belo Horizonte, Oct 17 (Prensa Latina) Brazilian Health Minister Jose
Gomes Temporal informed that 480,000 dengue cases have been confirmed
so far in the country, and 121 patients died from the hemorrhagic type.

The figures were disclosed when the National Anti-dengue Campaign was
opened here, with warnings that the country is already facing an
epidemic prior to the rainy season, when the breeding grounds for the
Aedes Aegyti mosquito, the transmitting agent of the disease, are more
favourable.

Temporal warned the mosquito's ability to adapt surprises experts, as
its presence grows despite policies oriented by the World Health
Organization and the Pan-American Health Organization.

When announcing the strategies and new actions put into practice during
the campaign, Temporao insisted the detected cases must receive medical
attention as soon as possible, to avoid further deaths.

According to the health ministry, Mato Grosso is the Brazilian state
with the highest number of registered cases so far this year, with
72,000, and a rate of 3,099 patients for each 100,000 residents.

ef dig rr mf

PL-16