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BUSINESS Thursday 27 June 2024
A13

Health officials tell U.S. doctors to be alert for dengue HEALTH

as cases ramp up worldwide DOCTOR ON DUTY

By MIKE STOBBE by the Tokyo-based phar- Oranjestad
AP Medical Writer maceutical company Hospital 7:00 pm / 10:00pm
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Takeda is not currently li- Tel. 527 4000
health officials on Tuesday censed in the U.S. Others San Nicolas
warned doctors to be alert are in development. Imsan 24 hours
for dengue cases as the Across the world, more Tel.524 8833
tropical disease breaks in- than 6.6 million infections Women in Difficulties
ternational records. were reported by about 80 PHARMACY ON DUTY
The virus, which is spread countries last year.
by mosquitoes, has been In the first four months of Oranjestad:
Kibrahacha : Tel.583 4908
surging worldwide, helped this year, 7.9 million cases San Nicolas:
by climate change. In and 4,000 deaths have San Nicolas:Tel. 584 5712
barely six months, coun- been reported, according
tries in the Americas have to the World Health Orga- OTHER
already broken calendar- nization. It’s been particu- Dental Clinic 587 9850
year records for dengue larly intense in the Ameri- Blood Bank Aruba 587 0002
cases.The World Health This 2003 photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control cas, including in Brazil and Urgent Care 586 0448
Organization declared an and Prevention shows a female Aedes albopictus mosquito Peru. Walk-In Doctor’s Clinic
acquiring a blood meal from a human host. Dengue, a tropical
emergency in December, illness caused by a virus, is spread by Aedes mosquitos, a type In the United States, the +297 588 0539
Women in Difficulties
and Puerto Rico declared of warm weather insect that is expanding its geographic reach numbers have been far EMERGENCY
a public health emergen- because of climate change, experts say. more modest about 3,000
cy in March. Associated Press cases last year in U.S. states Police 100
Oranjestad
527 3140
Dengue remains less com- and territories. Noord 527 3200
mon in the continental fection may fail to neutral- U.S. officials in 2021 rec- But it was the worst in a de- Sta. Cruz 527 2900
United States, but in the ize the second type and ommended one vaccine, cade, and included more San Nicolas 584 5000
50 states so far this year actually can help the virus made by Sanofi Pasteur. infections that occurred Police Tipline 11141
there have been three enter immune cells and The three-dose vaccine locally, courtesy of native Ambulancia 911
times more cases than at replicate. is built to protect against mosquitoes. Most were in Fire Dept. 115
Red Cross
582 2219
the same point last year. That’s a concern in Puerto all four dengue types and Puerto Rico, but about 180
Most were infections that Rico, which for the last two is recommended only for were in three U.S. states — TAXI SERVICES
travelers got abroad, and decades has been widely children ages 9 to 16 who Florida, Texas and Califor- Taxi Tas 587 5900
officials note there is no exposed to type 1. Last have laboratory evidence nia. q Prof. Taxi 588 0035
evidence of a current out- month, the island reported of an earlier dengue in- Taxi D.T.S. 587 2300
break. But they also warn its first dengue death of the fection and who live in Taxi Serv. Aruba 583 3232
A1 Taxi Serv.
280 2828
that local mosquitos pose year. an area like Puerto Rico
a threat. “We’re currently seeing is where dengue is common. Women in Difficulties
In its health alert Tuesday, increases in the cases due Given those restrictions and TRAVEL INFO
the Centers for Disease to dengue 2 and dengue other issues, it hasn’t been Aruba Airport 524 2424
Control and Prevention 3, for which the population widely used. As of late last American Airlines 582 2700
advised doctors to know has very little immunity,” month, only about 140 Avianca 588 0059
the symptoms, ask ques- said Dr. Gabriela Paz-Bai- children had been vacci- Jet Blue 588 2244
tions about where patients ley, the Puerto-Rico-based nated in Puerto Rico since Surinam 582 7896
recently traveled and con- chief of the CDC’s dengue shots became available Women in Difficulties
sider ordering dengue tests branch. there in 2022, and Sanofi AID FOUNDATIONS
when appropriate. There is no widely available Pasteur has told the CDC it FAVI- Visually Impaired
Dengue (pronounced medicine for treating den- is going to stop making the Tel. 582 5051
DEHN’-gay) is caused by gue infections. vaccine. Alcoholics Anonymous
a virus spread by a type of Vaccines have been tricky. A different vaccine made Tel. 736 2952
warm weather mosquito Narcotics Anonymous
that is expanding its geo- Tel. 583 8989
graphic reach because of Fundacion Contra Violencia
climate change, experts Relacional Tel. 583 5400
say. Centre for Diabetes
Many infected people Tel. 524 8888
don’t get sick, but some Child Abuse Prevention
Tel. 582 4433
experience headache, fe-
ver and flu-like symptoms. Quota Club Tel. 525 2672
Women in Difficulties
Severe cases can involve General Info
cause serious bleeding, Phone Directory Tel. 118
shock and death.
Repeated infections can
be especially dangerous.
There are four types of den-
gue virus, simply known as
1, 2, 3 and 4. When some-
one is first infected, their
body builds antibodies
against that type for life. If
they get infected with an-
other type of dengue, the
antibodies from the first in- facebook.com/arubatoday/