Argentina-Mosquito disease (Dengue) gets more serious.

ARGENTINA-MOSQUITO DISEASE.

Two babies were born with dengue fever in Orán and another one in Embarcación, Salta province, where over 1,700 cases of locally-bred dengue were diagnosed, reports said yesterday.

"There are six cases of congenital dengue in the world, three cases are in Salta province," the director of the San Vicente de Paul Hospital, Luis Arias, said.

The babies caught the disease while in the womb when their mothers were infected with dengue fever during the last week of pregnancy.

Arias explained that of the two babies that were born in Orán, one was discharged after undergoing treatment, "and the other is making favourable progress." The third case is that of a baby born 20 days ago in Embarcación, 40km away from Orán.

Arias said that this kind of dengue case is unheard of in the country, and that "only three other cases were detected in the world: two in Mexico and one in Caracas, Venezuela."

Meanwhile, in Chaco, the province with the highest number of dengue fever cases, reports yesterday said provincial Health Minister Sandra Mendoza was set to resign before she is questioned by the provincial legislature. Chaco Governor, and Mendoza’s husband, Jorge Capitanich, yesterday denied speculation that he was set to reshuffle the provincial Cabinet because of the dengue fever outbreak.

The governor’s wife has been harshly criticized for her handling of the situation in Chaco, a northern province where 9,421 cases of dengue fever were detected. At least one person has died of dengue according to the government.

Mendoza was summoned by the provincial legislature to answer questions about the way in which the local administration is dealing with the dengue fever crisis. The minister summoning was unanimously approved, with the support of the opposition and the ruling party lawmakers.

The head of Chaco’s Legislature health committee, Marisa Lizarraga, yesterday said Mendoza was going to resign to avoid the grilling. Lizarraga yesterday also alleged that last Sunday a pick-up truck sent by the national government to carry out fumigations was used by Health Ministry officials to go hunting. The driver and the people travelling on the vehicle, who had drank alcohol, were involved in an accident in which a person died and another one was seriously injured, she added.

Lizarraga said that when the officials were questioned they said they were carrying out fumigation tasks in the countryside, but they did not have the right equipment.