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 When the mosquito-borne virus Zika - linked to severe birth defects
in thousands of babies in Brazil - started to spread through the
Americas the homemaker, now seven months pregnant, set out to
protect herself.
But repellent is also running short in crisis-hit Venezuela. And as
water cuts are frequent in the slums, people keep reserve jars in
store at home, a potential breeding ground for mosquitoes.
"I keep the doors closed. I can't do much more," said Carolina, 30,
as she waited in line for a check-up at a state-run maternity center
in southern Caracas.
Zika is the latest worry for pregnant Venezuelans, who already
search high and low for scarce folic acids, medical equipment and
medicines, and even diapers to have in stock for when they give
birth.
Around 4,700 cases of potential Zika infection have been reported in
the country, Venezuela's Health Minister Luisana Melo told state
television on Thursday in the first official estimate, vowing
fumigation efforts and training for medical personnel.
It was unclear how many pregnant women have been infected with the
virus.
Many doctors and health activists worry that the country will be
ill-equipped to fight the virus as it grapples with economic crisis
and constant shortages of consumer goods and medicines. With no
vaccine or cure for the virus, much of the fight against the
outbreak is going to depend on protecting people from mosquito bites
and reducing the mosquito population.
"We're exposed like no other country in Latin America for this to be
a pandemic," said Huniades Urbina, president of the Venezuelan
Paediatrics Society, who is critical of the leftist government of
Nicolas Maduro.
Drawing a full picture of the state of health in Venezuela is
difficult as the government over a year ago stopped issuing weekly
health bulletins, which included data on infant mortality and
mosquito-born diseases.
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"EXPLOSIVE" SPREAD OF ZIKA
At the clinic, where late leader Hugo Chavez's quote "pregnant women
are sacred" emblazons a colorful mural of breast-feeding mothers,
many of the dozen of pregnant women Reuters spoke to had partial or
no information about Zika.
A pregnant teenager who thought she might have the virus flashed her
bite-filled left hand and complained of itches, but said she had not
heard Zika could hinder brain development in unborn babies.
The Paediatrics Society says it has received reports of pregnant
women likely suffering Zika in each of Venezuela's states. One
obstetrician in the sweltering border city of Maracaibo said she had
already seen 20 pregnant patients with what appeared to be Zika.
There have been no reports of the deformation known as microcephaly,
in which infants are born with abnormally small heads and brains.
But as the virus spreads from Brazil, other countries in the
Americas are likely to see Zika-linked birth defects, the World
Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. The virus is spreading
"explosively" and could affect as many as four million people in the
Americas, according to the WHO. [L8N15C37P]
"I'm very worried. There's no medicine and the government isn't
taking measures," said George Mendoza, 21, as he accompanied his
11-weeks pregnant girlfriend, who said she fell pregnant due to lack
of condoms, to a check-up.
(Editing by Frances Kerry)
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