The Minister of Health of the City of Buenos Aires, Fernán Quirós, assured this Monday that they are “in the final phase of the dengue outbreak” and, despite the decrease in cases, he confirmed the need to continue with preventive care because “lThe epidemic did not end”.
Quirós was accompanied by the head of Government, Jorge Macri, and they announced the vaccination scheme in the City. After the details, the official took the floor and talked about the current dengue situation. “The first week of April was the worst of this dengue epidemic, which has been the highest in all of Latin America, Argentina and the City, since we have records”explained the Buenos Aires official.
In addition, the minister confirmed that they are “in the final phase of the dengue outbreak” and emphasized that the epidemic did not end despite the fact that “adult specimens of the Aedes aegypti mosquito are in retreat.” During the record number of cases, in the City there were up to 170 beds occupied with sick patients in public hospitals, while that number dropped considerably these days with a total of 20 beds used.
“The records we have in the City indicate that cases have decreased very significantly. We came with values of 80% of positive ovitraps for the worst moments and today we are close to 20%so practically the adult Aedes aegypti is retreating,” he highlighted. In relation to this issue, Macri added: “We began the path of analyzing what the dengue outbreak left behind to prepare for October.”
Finally, the official also clarified doubts about the appearance of a new invasion of mosquitoes in the City: “It is another species, the colloquially called puddle mosquito, which is much larger, clumsier, blacker, which bites at all times and gives much more significant welts “.
Fumigating would not be the solution
In conjunction with the Argentine Network for Surveillance of Pesticide Resistance, Malbrán has been carrying out since 2019 a research project where they describe and analyze the current state and geographical distribution of the resistance developed by the Aedes aegypti; Thanks to this study, They warned municipalities about the impact of misuse of insecticides and they pointed out that “it is not the only” solution to control dengue, so “community strategies” must be proposed.
“Insecticides should not be used on a large scale because mosquitoes are also exposed to other insecticides, such as those in agriculture, and with the study we began to detect that there are degrees of resistance due to several factors. That’s why It is requested that they only be applied at times of outbreak, and not as a preventive way. the first mosquitoes barely appear, because the insecticide is not water,” he explained in an interview with Argentine News the director of the center, Mariana Manteca Acosta.
