Page 11 - Aruba Today
P. 11
WORLD NEWS A11
Saturday 30 January 2016
Life at Zika epicenter a struggle for afflicted family
Daniele Ferreira dos Santos holds her son Juan Pedro, who was reasons, so it makes sense des. quito in 1958, but over the
born with microcephaly, outside her house in Recife, Pernam- that ... it really took off “The mosquito is in all Re- decades the insect re-
buco state, Brazil. Santos was never diagnosed with Zika, but there.” cife. If I didn’t get it here, I turned, slowly encroaching
she blames the virus for her son’s defect and for the terrible toll Mosquitoes have long got it at the place I work,” from neighboring countries
it has taken on her life. been an inescapable part said Santos, a receptionist. and finding fertile breeding
of the lives of the Santos “We all know that the risk ground in Brazil’s sprawling,
(AP Photo/Felipe Dana) family and their neigh- (of contracting a mosqui- unplanned cities, with their
bors in a slum in Recife’s to-borne illness) is high.” limited potable water sys-
Apipucos neighborhood, But it wasn’t always this tems and garbage collec-
where raw sewage flows way. Brazil once succeed- tion.
in ditches, rain water from ed in eliminating the Ae- The Brazilian government is
the frequent downpours in des, which is well adapt- now pledging to hand out
this equatorial city accu- ed to humans, lives within repellent to low-income
mulates in fetid puddles, people’s homes and can pregnant women, but the
and the shores of a nearby breed in just a bottle cap gesture is cold comfort to
pond are dotted with trash. of stagnant water. Mas- new mother Santos.
Each soda bottle, yogurt sive eradication efforts in Asked whether she had
container and marga- the 1940s and 1950s al- any repellent, she just
rine tub provides an ideal lowed the country to be laughed. She has little rea-
breeding ground for Ae- declared free of the mos- son to laugh these days.q
MAURICIO SAVARESE Originally from Africa, Zika
JENNY BARCHFIELD spread to Asia and was first
Associated Press registered in Brazil in the
RECIFE, Brazil (AP) — middle of last year, spread-
Around the fifth month of ing like wildfire through the
her pregnancy, Daniele northeast thanks in part to
Ferreira dos Santos fell ill the region’s widespread
with a high fever and an- poverty, equatorial heat
gry red splotches on her and chronic infestations
skin. of the Aedes aegypti mos-
She soon recovered. quito, which also spreads
But weeks later, when she dengue fever and chikun-
went to the hospital for a gunya. “It’s the proverbial
prenatal exam, the news perfect storm,” said Dr. Al-
was horrific: The baby she bert Ko, a professor of epi-
was carrying likely had a demiology with the Yale
severe brain injury. When School of Public Health,
Juan Pedro Campos dos adding the region was like-
Santos came into the world ly at least one of the initial
in December, the circum- points of entry for the dis-
ference of his head was ease — which researchers
just 26 centimeters, about theorize may have been
20 percent smaller than introduced to Brazil by
normal. tourists visiting the country
Santos was never diag- during the 2014 World Cup
nosed with Zika, but she or an international canoe-
blames the virus for her ing event the same year.
son’s defect and for the The Summer Olympics are
terrible toll it has taken on due to be held in Rio de Ja-
her life. Living in Recife neiro in August. The games
in the northeastern state attracts hundreds of thou-
of Pernambuco, she is at sands of visitors.
the epicenter of the Zika “It may have been one of
outbreak, and Pedro’s is many introductions, but
among 3,700 confirmed or this is the one that took off,”
suspected cases of micro- said Ko. “In Brazil, infesta-
cephaly in Brazil that may tion rates (of the mosquito)
be connected to the vi- are highest in the northeast
rus, though no link has yet because of climactic rea-
been proven. sons and socio-economic
