Rio municipalities receive cars to help fight Aedes aegypti

Municipalities from the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro received Tuesday (Jan. 26) exclusive cars to fight Aedes aegypti mosquito in the state. A total of 170 cars were purchased by the state government with the Health Ministry budget allocated for surveillance actions. Each region received 13 cars.

State Health Secretary Luiz Antônio de Souza Teixeira Júnior said that cars are essential. "These cars are an act to rescue the operating structures of the municipal health departments. The daily surveillance involves domiciliary investigation on cases, staff action in the field, death investigation. They [cars] are essential to respond to surveillance actions. "

Microcephaly

Teixeira Júnior reported that in addition to removing the mosquito's breeding areas, the department is defining standards to assist microcephaly cases throughout the state, since the disease has been recently linked to the Zika virus transmitted by Aedes aegypti. "We are dealing with one of the most serious emergencies in public health in recent decades, due to the occurrence of microcephaly cases. In this scenario, we need to provide the best health care to the pregnant woman and the child who might be diagnosed with microcephaly," he declared. "We set up a protocol based on the Health Ministry's guidelines for each health professional to know exactly the procedures to follow with the pregnant woman and the place where the child with microcephaly can be taken to get stimulation the earliest possible," he pointed out.

Translated by Amarílis Anchieta