Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, July 20, 2005
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Government Looks for Private
Support to Stop Dengue
The Costa Rican health system this year has spent ¢428 million ($895,000) in treating dengue patients, the quantity of whom has more than doubled compared to this time last year, Public Health Minister Rocío Sáenz announced yesterday.
(Click for more)
Police Investigate Arson as
Possible Cause of Hospital Fire
The Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) are investigating the possibility that the recent fire that claimed 19 lives at the Hospital Calderón Guardia, in downtown San José, was intentionally set, according to a judicial source.
(Click for more)
Pacheco and Castro:
Not the Best of Friends
President Abel Pacheco said yesterday at the press conference following his weekly Cabinet meeting that he is lucky to get along with all Latin American Presidents except “a certain bearded man,” alluding to Cuban President Fidel Castro.
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July 20
Venezuelan Film
Everyone is invited to watch the film “Jericó,” (in Spanish), at 7 p.m. at the Spanish Cultural Center, Barrio Escalante. Info: 257-2919.
Robert Aguilar and the Neotics in Concert
Don't miss it! Enjoy the best soul, funk, neo-soul music tonight at 7 p.m., at Scenarios Bar, Real InterContinental Hotel, next to Multiplaza, Escazú. Info: 272-6084.
Honoring Spinetta
Patricio Torres and some of his friends are playing music by Argentinean composer Luis Alberto Spinetta at 10 p.m., at Jazz Café, San Pedro. Info: 253-8933, only between 2-6 p.m.
Edited By María Gabriela Díaz
Tico Times Staff
mgdiaz@ticotimes.net
Government Looks for Private
Support to Stop Dengue
By Rebecca Kimitch
Tico Times Staff
rkimitch@ticotimes.net
The Costa Rican health system this year has spent ¢428 million ($895,000) in treating dengue patients, the quantity of whom has more than doubled compared to this time last year, Public Health Minister Rocío Sáenz announced yesterday.
The funds have been used to treat the 8,446 patients who have sought medical treatment from the country's public hospitals, Sáenz said during President Abel Pacheco's weekly Cabinet meeting. A total of 9,400 dengue cases were reported in all of 2004.
The numbers show that dengue fever is back to 2003 rates, when 19,669 people suffered from the sometimes-fatal mosquito-borne disease. Sáenz said she expects 2005 to close out with at least that many cases.
Last year's low number of cases caused people to let down their guard and not take anti-dengue precautions, driving the number back up, the minister explained.
“Getting people to change their attitudes and behavior is the hardest,” Sáenz said.
The government hopes to step up anti-dengue education and information campaigns, but is still in need of the funds to do this as well as finance more insecticide, fumigation teams and gas.
The latest anti-dengue efforts will cost approximately ¢146 million ($305,000).
While the Finance Ministry is in the process of determining whether such funds are available, Sáenz is seeking help from the private sector, particularly in regions with the greatest number of dengue cases, she said.
The regions presenting the most cases are the central Pacific coast and the Atlantic region, although the northern Pacific coast has also presented a number of cases, Sáenz said. Approximately 40% of cases in 2004 and 2005 have been in the Atlantic region, she added.
Dengue is a viral disease transmitted by infected Aedes aegypti mosquitos, which tend to feed by day. It usually manifests itself through a fast-rising fever of more than 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) for 5-7 days accompanied by severe headaches, retroocular pain, rashes and digestive symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting and a bitter taste in the mouth, according to a dengue manual published by the Health Ministry (TT, July 15).
Dengue can be prevented by using a mosquito repellent containing DEET and emptying potential breeding pools of standing water, including gutters, outdoor furniture and toys, unused toilet bowls and flower vases.
Hemorrhagic dengue fever is a more serious, potentially fatal form of the disease usually contracted after a person has already had dengue once. So far this year, only seven cases of hemorrhagic dengue have been confirmed, all concentrated on the central Pacific coast, according to Sáenz.
“As the number of (overall) cases increase, the possibilities of hemorrhagic dengue increase,” she added.
For his part, President Pacheco urged Costa Ricans and people living here to remain vigilant in preventing dengue.
“Dengue will never be gone; it is here to stay,” he said.
The President also reminded the press that no one has died of dengue in Costa Rica since 1999.
Police Investigate Arson as
Possible Cause of Hospital Fire
The Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) are investigating the possibility that the recent fire that claimed 19 lives at the Hospital Calderón Guardia, in downtown San José, was intentionally set, according to a judicial source.
The director of the OIJ, Jorge Rojas, told Radio Monumental investigators have received reports that cast suspicion on a nurse from the hospital as the culprit, although other reports indicate that the nurse was working in a different part of the hospital when the fire started.
The interim director of the hospital, Sandra Montero, told the press that there were many clues that tie the nurse to the start of the fire. However, Rojas said that that the nurse, whose name was not revealed, had not been questioned.
Montero explained that in the hallways of the hospital there were a series of oxygen tanks arranged side by side in an unusual way and that various workers saw the nurse leaving the storage room where the fire started minutes before the blaze.
Rojas explained that the nurse would be questioned when he is in the presence of his lawyer, but said there is no formal accusation against him nor is there conclusive evidence that the fire was started intentionally.
The preliminary investigation did reveal that a valve did not release water to put out the fire because somebody had opened it hours before; the pump mechanism lost pressure and water could not reach the floors where the fire was.
Rojas said that “a company was working with that valve (on the day of the fire) and we are investigating if the company was negligent.”
The investigations will continue until police determine with certainty the causes of the fire.
On July 15, firefighter chief Héctor Chávez explained that investigators did not find evidence in the storage room that the fire had been intentionally started, but it contained paper, alcohol, plastic cups and diapers that facilitated the spread of fire.
Chávez said the cause of the fire was most likely the close proximity of large amounts of paper to the fluorescent lights that lit the storeroom.
The fire, which occurred before dawn Tuesday, July 12, on the fourth and fifth floors in the oldest part of the hospital complex, left 19 people dead and caused $20 million in damages (TT, July 15).
-ACAN-EFE
Pacheco and Castro:
Not the Best of Friends
President Abel Pacheco said yesterday at the press conference following his weekly Cabinet meeting that he is lucky to get along with all Latin American Presidents except “a certain bearded man,” alluding to Cuban President Fidel Castro.
“I am lucky to get along with all (Latin American Presidents) except a certain bearded man who doesn't like me at all,” Pacheco declared.
He added, “What are we to do? I don't really love him (Castro) very much…With all the other ones, I get along fine.”
The declarations took place after he was consulted on why Costa Rica supports the Colombian candidate, Luis Alberto Moreno, for the presidency of the Interamerican Development Bank (BID). Moreno aspires to replace departing president Enrique Iglesias of Uruguay.
Pacheco answered that his choice results from the friendship he has developed with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who has assisted him in moments of crisis. He added he maintains that kind of friendly relationship with other Latin American Presidents – just not Castro.
-ACAN-EFE
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