Women's Club of Costa Rica General Meeting
Anti-aging skin care demonstrations, 9:30 a.m., at private residence in La Guácima, Alajuela. Info: 2268-6130, 2267-7042.

Free film screenings
“Voz de Angel,” (Honduras), three men kill a father and a son to steal a machine. “Zero,” (U.S.), a documentary on how relatives and friends of the Sept. 11 attacks dealt with their pain, 7 p.m., Sala Calle 15, Avenida 2, Calle 15, in front of Plaza de la Democracia.

Africa en el piel concerts
Cantoamérica, Tucker Sisters (T-4), Max Goldenberg, 8 p.m., Melico Salazar Theater.

Lauer, Godard and Heral Trio in concert
Jazz, 10 p.m, Jazz Café, Escazú, http://jazzcafecostarica.com.

An outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease dengue in the central Pacific Costa Rican town of Parrita continues to spread.

In the past two weeks, reported cases have jumped from 223 to 398, with 17 people requiring hospitalization. One case of hemorrhagic dengue has been reported thus far.

The Social Security System (Caja), Health Ministry and private enterprise have teamed up to educate residents, arm them with repellant and drain containers holding standing water, but so far they haven't managed to put the brakes on the illness' spread.

Dr. Edgar Carrillo of the Max Terán Vals Hospital in nearby Quepos said clinical analysis of the individual cases is still being conducted to try to understand the outbreak better. He said it could be the spread of a new kind of dengue – serotype 3 – one the country hasn't seen before.

According to the daily La Nación, serotype 3 entered the country in December.

The most affected areas in Parrita are Barrio La Inmaculada, Bella Vista Boca Vieja, Barrio Los Angeles, la Pascua, El Cocal Paquita and Naranjito, according to a Caja press release.

While Parrita's dengue numbers are growing, the Health Ministry put out a press release stating that nationwide cases have declined precipitously over the last several years.

Dengue, whose symptoms are fever, vomiting and muscle pain, has no cure aside from bed rest. Hemorrhagic dengue, on the other hand, is a strain of the virus that causes bruising and bleeding from the nose, gums and other orifices that can be fatal.

In the first six months of this year, the Housing Ministry spent less than 3 percent of its budget for 2008, according to a recent report by the Comptroller General's Office.

As of June 30, the ministry had not spent any of the ¢20,000 million ($36.4 million) that the government allotted for rebuilding shantytowns and helping poor families rebuild their houses.

The ministry received a total of about ¢21,842 million ($39.7 million) in 2008, a nearly five-fold increase from 2007. By the end of June, it had spent just ¢562 million ($1 million), or 2.6 percent.

While no other government institution is in such a state of paralysis, most spent less than half of their budgets in the first six months of the year. Both the Foreign Trade Ministry (COMEX) and the Finance Ministry spent 30 percent of their budgets, while the Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) spent 32 percent.

Meteorologists forecast more downpours this afternoon as Costa Rica heads into the wettest part of its rainy season, September and October.

Hail fell yesterday over Cartago, the old capital, and Turrialba, both east of San José, meteorologist Rebeca Morera said. Hail is not unusual during the rainy season, which is intensifying along the Pacific and Central Valley, Morera said.

Costa Rica's Caribbean side, however, is enjoying a mix of hot sunshine and sporadic rain, she added.

The institute predicts the season to end sometime from Nov. 2 to 6 in the Northern Zone, Dec. 7 to 11 on the Central Pacific, Dec. 12 to 16 in the Southern Zone and Dec. 12 to 21 in the Central Valley.

Early Monday afternoon, the damaging gusts that swept through San José and Alajuela were “strong winds” and not a tornado as initially reported, according to meteorologist José Joaquín Agüero.