Thread: Dengue in Panama

Hi Again

I've been hearing a lot about dengue in Panama but not been able to find out which places to avoid. Depending on who I've spoken to, some have said it's fine in Panama City, others have said take the usual precautions.

Any ideas about where to be specially careful and where is fine, both inside PC and in the rest of the country? Also, does it tend to subside at any particular time of the year?

I'm not so worried about myself but I'm considering getting my elderly mom to come over and would hate for her to get it

S

I heard that less than 12 have died from it - out of 3.4 million possible targets.

You probably have about the same deathrate for local airport rides in the same time frame (or food poisoning for that matter).

If you are not planning to sleep outside in slight flooded areas where they keep livestock you could probably stay off the spray.

Always keep in mind that 40,000 americans get killed on the road each year, more than that commit suicide and a good factor above that dies from "food related" injuries.

Not worrying about Dengue would probably increase your life expectancy.

Best, Ed
PANAMA BANK GUIDE - LIST OF BANKS IN PANAMA

I agree with Ed. It's like worrying about being killed by Bears in Canada... or snakes in Arizona... or sharks in Florida.

Matt

Thanks guys

As mentioned, it's not me I'm worried about, it's my Mom who is not very strong, so am trying to make sure we keep out of the areas worst affected. I can't seem to find any info on where those areas might be though.

There's been a few people infected in the city this year. So there's no "safe zone".

Good luck,
Matt

Hi!
There was an article in www.panama-guide.com about the different places in the city where they had cases of dengue fever and where the people who died contracted it from.

I also have a friend in San Carlos that got dengue fever recently. Also I would stay away from Punta Chame area. They have a lot of mosquitos that also carry malaria in that area. I had friends that were renting in a development in Punta Chame and the health department came to their house to check their blood for malaria a couple of months ago.

Mary
www.whypanama.com

Thanks Mary

There seems to be very little generally about it in the news now so maybe it's under control. Just a matter of making sure my Mom covers herself from head to toe in diet every day to be safe!

The other posters are probably right too- more chance of getting hit by a bus.

hi before you marinade your mum in deet , you might want to do some reasearch on that stuff . that is more likely to do her harm ,than the very slim chance of her getting dengue , just come and enjoy your holiday and leave all those worries at home .

Thanks NakedGuy

I'm not normally some sort of worrywort so don't get the wrong idea about me . Most of my worries were left back at home a couple of years ago, since then I've traveled to some pretty remote places, many of which have had some sort of tropical disease or the other. I normally just ask the locals or a pharmacy what the score is when I get there and then take the necessary precautions. Where there's no consensus then I take the next best measure and that's protection. I've used Deet a few times before and for short periods it should be fine. Last year I flew my parents out to Cambodia though and my mom caught malaria so this time I'm trying to minimise the chance that she'll catch anything by avoiding any particularly bad areas firstly and then taking any other precautions I can. Given the situation I think the Deet would be sensible for her, I'll probably just take my chances though.