AMERICA/BOLIVIA - Dengue spreads: the Church urges the population to collaborate to limit its spread

Wednesday, 19 February 2020

INTERNET

Santa Cruz (Agenzia Fides) - In Bolivia the population is on high alert for the spread of the dengue virus which is recording very high peaks of infection. "The Lord asks us to be co-responsible in implementing the preventive measures that the health authorities have planned, invites us to be in solidarity with the sick but also to entrust them together with their families to the Virgin Mary" said Mgr. Sergio Gualberti, Archbishop of Santa Cruz addressing the faithful during the Sunday Mass homily.
On the occasion of the World Day of the Sick, celebrated on 11 February, Mgr. Gualberti underlined the peculiarity of this day, giving particular importance to the dengue infection in Bolivia and to the global threat of the coronavirus.
The entire Bolivian population - urges the Catholic Church - is called to collaborate in the preventive measures planned by the health authorities in endemic areas. Since the beginning of the month, the Ministry of Health has reported 5 deaths due to dengue in Bolivia, 9,142 suspected cases and 1,943 confirmed cases. According to the provisional toll, the situation is particularly alarming in the Santa Cruz department, where the highest prevalence of the disease was recorded with 5,641 suspected cases and 1,245 confirmed cases.
According to the data released by the Pan-American Health Organization (OPS) in 2019, the spread of the dengue virus in South America has touched historical peaks: there have been about 3 million 140 thousand cases of infection, for a total of over 1,500 deaths. In the first four weeks of 2020, there have already been over 125,000 new cases, in net growth. In Bolivia, institutions, the Church and civil society ask the population to actively collaborate to curb the spread of the disease. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 19/2/2020)


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