Costa Rica News – Perhaps Costa Rica should not have cut back their budget on the monies that are being used to combat the mosquito carried viruses dengue and chikungunya. This problem is now coming to the forefront as more and more cases are appearing.
180 patients in Guanacaste and Puntarenas are suspected to have Chikungunya. Seven cases have been confirmed so far. This is spreading rapidly and threatening to hit tourism hard this summer season.
The CCSS announced a crackdown on the epidemic on Tuesday. This includes campaigns about how to destruct breeding grounds of the mosquitoes that transmit the virus. They also plan to strengthen the training of health personnel to be able to make the diagnosis.
In an extreme case, holiday festivals in the Santa Cruz and Garabito areas may be cancelled, depending on how many patients appear in the next days. Mass events could cause a major spread of the virus.
Reports show that people started getting sick 22 days ago, but many didn’t seek treatment.
This could be because of not having insurance or due to thinking that it’s just a fever or a cold. Any high fever or joint pain should be addressed quickly. An epidemic would highly stress the social security fund and the national economy.
