Outbreak of dengue hits Brazil

by Iva Skoch on

Seriously, are mosquitoes good for anything? I am a believer in the ecosystem and all that, but I could easily support a plan in which mosquitoes would be replaced with some nicer insects.

CNN reports today that Brazil has reported more than 55,000 cases of dengue, which can be a deadly mosquito-borne disease, in the past four months. Dengue has killed 67 people this year in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state. Slightly less than half of the deaths were children under the age of 13.

We don’t know whether the deaths were attributed to the more severe form of dengue, dengue hemorrhagic fever, which can be fatal if unrecognized and not properly treated. With treatment, fatalities due to dengue hemorrhagic fever, which is characterized by abnormal internal or external bleeding, can be less than 1 percent.

Dengue fever, the more common form of dengue, is apparently caused by four closely related viruses. All of them are carried by infected mosquitoes, mainly the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, also known as yellow fever mosquito. Mosquitoes carrying dengue viruses breed in stored, exposed water, including places as shallow as jars, discarded bottles and plant saucers. There are 10 million cases of dengue around the world each year, so this is actually quite common.

Prevention? You have heard it a million times. Wear long sleeves, loose, baggy pants and make sure you’re using good insect repellent. Symptoms? High fever, severe headache, backache, joint pains and eye pain, nausea, vomiting and a rash.

Mosquitoes suck.

Brazilian busted for performing illegal plastic surgery

by Iva Skoch on

Plastic surgery tourism has been thriving in many countries around the Globe, namely Brazil, Venezuela, Thailand, Hungary, Costa Rica, Czech Republic….really, anywhere healthcare is somewhat affordable.

A couple of months ago, Abha blogged about people going to Brazil both for the Carnival and for plastic surgery. Why go so far when you can get a Brazilian doctor perform one right in the comfort of his own basement in the US? It is cheap, but I won’t lie to you, there are some problems.

A Brazilian doctor was accused of being part of an underground cosmetic surgery network and sentenced to up to three years in prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty in the death of a 24-year-old woman, who died died of complications from liposuction surgery.

The doctor (see picture) apparently performed the surgery on a massage table under unsanitary conditions and did not have a qualified professional present to monitor the patient’s vital signs, AP reports.

Prosecutors said Ribeiro performed liposuction, nose jobs and Botox injections for several years, mostly in Framingham’s large Brazilian immigrant community, where cosmetic surgery is popular among beauty-conscious women.

I always wondered why plastic surgery was so popular among Brazilian women. Anyone?

Yellow Fever: Vaccine Deaths and Outbreaks in South America

by Erik McLaughlin on

Most travelers to Africa and South America have heard of Yellow Fever, even if only because there are countries within that have mandatory vaccinization requirements. People that live in these “Yellow Fever Zones” (an estimated 508 million in Africa alone) know this disease as a killer. This is also what is happening in Brazil.

ProMED mail, from the International Society of Infectious Disease, recently reported a third case and second fatality from YF since the new year. The latest case involved a 24-year-old man from the region of Goianesa. In 2008, there are 26 suspected cases, three confirmed, and 17 pending results of labwork. Six of the suspected cases have been excluded. Brazil also reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) that monkeys were dying of YF, in December 2007.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta has also released an outbreak notice and stresses the importance of the vaccine for travelers heading to yellow fever areas.

Immunization is the traditional preventative measure against Yellow Fever, and the in Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo — a major travel hub for the region — 1000 people a day are receiving the free vaccine. Savvy travelers may have heard news of a few vaccine associated deaths recently, in Peru. The vaccines in question were manufactured in Brazil, by Bio-Manguinos. All deaths are still under investigation and believed to be associated with the same lot numbers. The vaccines used in North America are from a seperate manufacturer, Sanofi-pasteur. All vaccines from the batch in question, and several from related lots, have been removed.

The Yellow Fever vaccine is considered relatively safe and effective by the CDC. Administered as a single dose under the skin, the vaccine is a live virus. Contraindications to the vaccine are people who are pregnant, immunocompromised or less than 9 months old. Interestingly, the vaccine is grown in chicken eggs and is also to be avoided by those with egg allergies. WHO advises the vaccine be given routinely to children in endemic areas, around the age of 9 months to one year of age. For travelers who are not candidates for the vaccine, a waiver is possible.

Why do you need the vaccine? Besides the country requirements for entry, the disease can be fatal.

Here is some basic information on the disease:

Basics: An Arbovirus spread via arthropods (mosquitos) in the genus Flavivirus. Symptoms include fever, head and backaches, fatigue and nausea. May progress to hemorrhagic complications and/or liver failure. Jaundice is also common. This is a vaccine preventable disease and proof of vaccinization is often required at customs.

Location: Only in Africa and South America. No reported cases in Asia, although the required mosquito species is present to carry the disease.

Transmission/Incubation: Bites from infected Aedes species mosquitoes in cities or Haemagogus species in jungles. The main vector is Aedes Aegypti in urban areas and an incubation of 3-6 days.

Prevention: Vaccination lasts for 10 years and is a live virus. Contraindicated with egg allergy, immunocompromised, pregnancy or less that 9 months old individuals. Mosquito awareness/ bite prevention is the other key.

Diagnosis: Antibodies to YF through a blood draw.

Treatment: This is a vaccine preventable disease, treatment once infected is supportive.

Resources:

CDC Yellow Fever Page

WHO Yellow Fever Vaccine

Interactive Health Map of South America

Sights Unseen

by Kara Sirmans on

Don’t you just love when you seem to have hit the zeitgeist moment for a trip? We had been planning a trip that would take us through Rio when U.S. News & World Report ran its cover story on Sacred Places in the World with the Christ the Redeemer statue on the cover. Brazil trades as heavily (arguably, more so) on this iconic statue that literally lords over Rio’s beachfront as it does on ‘The Girl from Ipanema.’ Named as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, the sheer scale of the 125-feet tall Christ statue is a siren call to travelers who want to add a major landmark to their ‘been there, done that’ lists.

But Rio had its own plans on the day we arrived. We landed in the morning to a bright haze at Antonio Carlos Jobim Airport. Not serious cover but the clouds stuck like dryer lint to the surrounding mountains, most notably Corcovado, the one the statue rests on. We figured we could see it the next day before we left, but no such luck. While the sun broke through and turned Copacabana Beach into a sizzling white strip, a cove-curve away, Ipanema Beach remained covered, including the mountains above it.
This isn’t my first run-in with a legendary landmark going shy. A highlight of a cross-country drive in 2001, was to be my first visit to the Grand Canyon. We arrived the week before Christmas and as we drove the last miles up to the South Rim it started to snow. And snow. And snow. We reached El Tovar lodge on the canyon edge, in blizzard mode. Standing against the rock wall at the very canyon edge, I looked out to see … white. Not canyons shrouded in white, not valleys covered in snow. Just … white. We joked that the Canyon had stayed home on account of snow but it was with disappointment that we left without seeing it.

I couldn’t help but think of that day as our taxi careened through the Brazilian traffic, back to the airport for the next leg of our trip. We could see Corcovado, even the suggestion of a straight line like a statue’s base. I waited five more years before I finally saw the Grand Canyon and really, it was worth the second trip. What about you? Have you ever been thwarted — thanks to the weather or fate? — from seeing a landmark in your travels?

Headed to Sao Paulo? Try The Pizza

by Martha Edwards on

Want a taste of traditional Brazilian food, something that you’ll have trouble finding at home? You might be out of luck in Sao Paulo — their signature dish is pizza, according to this article. In fact, July 10th is widely known as ‘Pizza Day’ in Sao Paulo — a day when the citizens of South America’s largest city pay homage to their favourite food by overdosing on cheese and dough and every topping under the sun. But even if you’re not around for the July 10th, Sunday nights are unofficially pizza-night for Paulistanos — local pizza joints are crammed full of pizza lovers young and old.

Pizza came to Sao Paulo along with the influx in Italian immigrants in the early 20th century. But although in the rest of Brazil, ketchup is a common additive to the traditional pizza, ordering a bottle of Heinz with your pie in Sao Paulo is a no-no.

Pizza’s one of those things that seems to be everywhere these days. In fact, the best pizza I ever had (and I’ve had lots) was in Koh Samui, Thailand. As a lover of all things with cheese, I’m kind of excited to try Sao Paulo pizza — sans ketchup though (ick!)