Dengue Fever
 

Link from other thread.

This is a link to the South America post for those who may not go to that forum. This is a serious warning for those who are traveling to (primarily) the NORTH of Argentina as well as the other affected areas. You should be fine in Buenos Aires. Although the news here can be sensational at times, I've heard it is actually worse than what the news has reported.

A friend, who was a manager at Hotel Bora Bora contracted Dengue Fever It was a horrible, if not-life-threatening experience.

3 people just died in the north of Argentina.

Here's one recent map of the affected areas:

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fullMaps...df?OpenElement

which shows it concentrated in Argentina around Salta so hopefully my June trip to Buenos Aires & Iguazu shouldn't expose me to this scary virus. :(

Don't worry, according to the government, the Dengue outbreak is just a "sensation". :(

They are showing some fumigation in the Capital (parks). I am sure the fumes are "all natural products" conforming to the highest international standards of pesticide safety.

Its important to point out that the Dengue cases detected in the city of Buenos Aires and the greater Buenos Aires areas are not native cases. This means that those that are infected have been traveling in the areas of the north of the country (mostly the borders with Paraguay and Brazil) and have been infected in those areas - they have not been infected in Buenos Aires.

The question must be asked as to why then are city officials fumigating....? Because there is a (slim, but it does exist) chance that native mosquitoes can pick up the virus from a migrant/traveler and then spread it locally......

Dont know if you are being sarcastic or if you have some hard info on this....?

Sorry to dissapoint, but unless you know something I dont know (if so please share it), then you can safely assume that what is being used conforms 100% to OMS standards.

Please note I do not take this issue lightly as I have an 18 month old son and he is a mosquito magnet... so this is no joking/laughing matter for me.

The new GCBA (Buenos Aires City Government) is very different to the K Regime (the Federal Government), so while I would doubt just about anything that the Federal Government would be doing, at least for the time being Im willing to give them (the Macri Administration) the benefit of the doubt.

Source...? Link...? I have heard/read about the sensation regarding other matters, but not in reference to the Dengue outbreak.... would love to read about this though.

I am being somewhat sarcastic, as anyone who has flown LAN into Argentina has heard a similar announcement. But I have no idea who is doing the fumigation - the feds or the city government.

However, I did start this thread as a serious matter, as anyone traveling to the north needs to know and take serious precaution, and anyone traveling to BA needs to know things are OK here (despite what outside media may or may not be reporting.)

Do I need to worry - as our plans are to spend the first weekend in May at Iguazu? Are there any preventatives one can take?

What precautions can be taken? Wearing long sleeves and limiting time outdoors at certain times of day but from what I was reading last night there is no inoculation or vaccine available so other than not travelling to affected areas what other sorts of precautions would a traveller take?

I just did a little research. Mosquitoes spread this disease. The best we can do is wear long pants and stay covered up. I will bring my strong (DEET 98%) insect repellent that I bought , but didn't need to use on our South Africa trip. On that trip we feared malaria. We were able to take malaria pills as a preventative.

The fear of dengue fever will not spoil my trip!!! :cool:

I dont think there is need to worry. Unless you will be walking around deep in the jungle then you will be fine. Take the usual precautions and enjoy your trip.

^ ^ ^