El Salvador Boost efforts to fight the virus Zika
BBC - Motobombas engine roar or atomizer smoke came across the Lomas de Versalles residential area in the city of San Salvador, El Salvador.
Wrapped in protective suits, masks, and helmets, a number of city employees holding the device while walking sprayed mosquito killer gas from house to house.
"Some people call the new Ebola virus," said the mayor of San Salvador, Nayib Bukele. "I do not know whether it is a new Ebola virus, but we do not want to find out."
In a country of six million people, there have been more than 6,000 cases of suspected due to Zika virus since late November. When calculated from the beginning of the year alone, there were about 2,500 more suspected cases have been revealed.
The merchants in the central city market that take advantage of the concerns that plagued the country. There is a store filled with colorful bed nets, mosquito net selling one for $ 5 or Rp. 68 250.
Or you can buy a racket-electroshock colorful costing US $ 3 or Rp40.950. All the tools were meant to protect the body from the bites of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that spread the virus Zika.
When the number of cars passing through the center of San Salvador, the driver lowered the window of their car and quickly buy it.
With the number of new cases of an outbreak of Zika continues to increase - and spread rapidly - every week, the government should improve prevention efforts.
The Ministry of Health recently warned that women delay pregnancy this year and next.
"We give a recommendation, it is not a ban or a measure of birth control," said Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Eduardo Espinoza.
"These children will need assistance for the rest of their lives neurological. They should get support and they will change the dynamics of the family. Nobody wants their children were born with physical or mental deficiencies so we asked them to think about it," he added.
The statement cash reap some criticism from feminist groups.
"To prevent a pregnancy in situations of risk, this is not a bad choice but it was not enough," said Morena Herrera, chairman of the Citizens Group of decriminalization of Abortion. "We did not think it fit into the reality of women in El Salvador."
One concern him are the men who took part in the matter.
"The women were not pregnant themselves," he said. "Access to information and contraceptives, though not illegal, is not completely open, and many women do not have enough information. And there are a lot of pregnancy caused by rape. - Pregnancy must be shouldered by women where they are not want it. "
Residents in El Salvador is a country that is a very conservative society. Abortion or abort a pregnancy is forbidden under any circumstances and the offender can be locked up in prison for decades. The Catholic Church said the government's approach is misleading.
"The government warned of a risk and proposed for non-pregnant women so they do not have the risk of having children with physical problems, but whether they are doing enough to tackle this Zika carrying mosquitoes?" said Father Luis Ayala of the Catholic Church.
"The government does not have its own capacity to combat this problem. We have to design a campaign that is institutionalized and then the key strength of civil society, such as the Catholic Church can play a key role through the parish, warning people to stay alert to the puddle. I think This way we can avoid mosquito breeding. "
But Pastor Ayala did not provide much support for women who are pregnant and are worried about the potential impact of Zika towards their infants who have not given birth.
"The husband or wife may decide not to get pregnant because if they do that and bitten and realize that they may have damaged the fetus, they should avoid the greater crimes, namely abortion."
The
National Women's Hospital in San Salvador, a number of leaflets
distributed and the nurses give guidance to pregnant women while waiting
for the doctor; they give advice such as keeping the environment clean, close the water storage and cleaning bath or water reservoirs regularly.
But there was little panic among the medical staff. The country is accustomed to the spread of viruses such as dengue and chikungunya are rife in several parts of the world. I heard one of the nurses told patients that the current virus that Zika is a "trend".
The expectant mother is very worried.
"We must recognize that we are a poor country, with very limited resources and some resources can not meet the need," said Guadalupe Arquilla who was pregnant 13 weeks and waiting to consult with a physician.
"Look, there's nothing out of the consulting room with a protective device? Which form of care? Talking alone is not enough to get rid of the mosquitoes"
And it will not get rid of anxiety. So far no cases of babies born with the condition of brain shrinkage in El Salvador after their mothers Zika virus. But there are around 100 pregnant women who were under surveillance. They will not know the real impact of the virus to their babies born within a few months.
But there was little panic among the medical staff. The country is accustomed to the spread of viruses such as dengue and chikungunya are rife in several parts of the world. I heard one of the nurses told patients that the current virus that Zika is a "trend".
The expectant mother is very worried.
"We must recognize that we are a poor country, with very limited resources and some resources can not meet the need," said Guadalupe Arquilla who was pregnant 13 weeks and waiting to consult with a physician.
"Look, there's nothing out of the consulting room with a protective device? Which form of care? Talking alone is not enough to get rid of the mosquitoes"
And it will not get rid of anxiety. So far no cases of babies born with the condition of brain shrinkage in El Salvador after their mothers Zika virus. But there are around 100 pregnant women who were under surveillance. They will not know the real impact of the virus to their babies born within a few months.
- Transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito species, which are also carriers of the dengue virus and yellow fever.
- First discovered in Africa in the 1940s, but now has spread in Latin America.
- Scientists say there is growing evidence related to the disease microcephaly or shrinkage of the brain, which leads to the condition of a baby who was born with a small head.
- Can cause fever and rash, but most people do not show symptoms, and there is no cure.
- The only way to fight Zika is to clean the water where mosquitoes breed, and protect themselves against mosquito bites
