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Of the 32 public hospitals in Honduras, 26 are overflowing with patients because of what health authorities describe as the most serious dengue epidemic of the last 50 years.
The disease affected 28,000 people this year, 54 of which, for most children, have died.
The case is huge in the western city of La Paz. In the chapel of the local hospital, two tables are stacked with patient files, sitting in front of a wooden representation of Christ.
Even more revealing are the beds lining the room, protected by red and blue mosquito nets, of which 10 women are treated for some of the typical symptoms of dengue fever: bone and joint pain, high fever, vomiting and dehydration.
We are invaded
Marco Antonio Rodas, spokesman for the hospital
Authorities have called for a national emergency to fight the Aedes Aegyptii mosquito, which causes dengue, and a fumigation program has been launched in homes and public buildings.
And yet, the hospital is flat. In addition to the people housed in the chapel, six of the eight rooms of the building are occupied by people with dengue fever. Some beds are even filled in the hallways.
Three of the wards accommodate a total of 26 children aged 2 to 14 – the most vulnerable group against dengue fever – who are connected to intravenous bags and supervised by the parents concerned.
"They are not all out of danger," said a nurse looking at the patients.
Crista Alexandra Pineda, seven, is one of the children whose health worries most hospital staff.
She was admitted Sunday with bleeding, accompanied by her grandmother, Josefina Velasquez, 59 years old.
City employee smokes market to prevent spread of dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases in Tegucigalpa [Jorge Cabrera/Reuters]
"We are overwhelmed," told AFP Marco Antonio Rodas, spokesman for the hospital.
"We had to postpone planned operations" to focus on emergencies.
"In 20 years of work here, I've never seen that," he added.
The number of patients has increased from 53 to 78 in the last week. The most serious cases were transferred by ambulance to the university hospital of the capital Tegucigalpa, where two have already died, said Rodas.
He did not rule out the possibility of taking over schools to accommodate patients who "are coming in increasing numbers".
Marta Zoila Lopez, 58, told AFP that she was at home in Guajiquiro, near La Paz, Sunday, when she began to experience symptoms.
"At first, I had a stomach ache, head and bones, vomiting and bleeding" to the nose and gums. She was immediately taken to the hospital where the nurses indicated that she was still in a delicate state.
President Juan Orlando Hernandez on Monday summoned the 298 municipal mayors in the capital and announced the creation of a special fund to fight the epidemic.
The only effective measure to curb the epidemic "is to destroy the mosquito breeding areas and it is a task that each of us must do at home, in our workplaces and in all public places" said Hernandez.
He also announced a "mbadive mobilization" for the fumigation and destruction of these breeding grounds. Churches, press organizations and business leaders are committed to supporting this effort.
The three-month-long rainy season is about to begin, which means that breeding areas will soon proliferate and the number of mosquitoes could soar.
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