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Brazil declares emergency after 2,400 babies are born with brain damage

washingtonpost.com

121–130 of 142 posts

Re: Brazil declares emergency after 2,400 babies are born with brain damage

#121

The sooner we get serious and start to deal with mosquitos the better. We already know what needs to be done [1], now all we need to do is get on with. How many millions of people have to die before we solve the problem of mosquito borne disease once and for all. Are we really going to sit around for decades debating if we should use this technology or not? Edit. For those who want to understand more about this gene…

Focusing on practical approaches seems to yield most beneficial results. I have had very good experiences in tropical climates with window screening, mosquito nets, bio-compatible repellents, traps, zappers, and would like to find more good tools.

One of the most annoying things about the Aedes Aegypty mosquito is that it feeds during the day. That means mosquito nets and window screening are not enough, and people have to use repellents all the time.

Re: Brazil declares emergency after 2,400 babies are born with brain damage

#122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Focusing on practical approaches seems to yield most beneficial results. I have had very good experiences in tropical climates with window screening, mosquito nets, bio-compatible repellents, traps, zappers, and would like to find more good tools.

I'm from the Bay but lived all over Brazil during several years and never once saw window screens. Brazilians tell me they exist, though this goes against the very wide-array of living arrangements I had while there.

The Aedes Aegypty mosquito feeds during the day, so window screens and mosquito nets won't help them anyway, unless they don't leave the house.

Re: Brazil declares emergency after 2,400 babies are born with brain damage

#123

This isn't the first dangerous disease spread by mosquitos, and may not be the last. Not to mention how incredibly annoying they are in general. I've been to Brazil a number of times, and the thing I could never understand is why, in a tropical country knee-deep in hungry disease causing mosquitos, is there not a single screen on any of the windows there? Big mistake, they're not expensive. They are cheaper and safer…

It's because the Aedes Aegypty mosquito feeds during the day. Most mosquitos prefer to feed during the night so fortifying your house against them works, but this mosquito will just bite you the next morning when you leave the house.

Re: Brazil declares emergency after 2,400 babies are born with brain damage

#124
Brazilian here. Our country is broken, unemployment has never been greater and we have a corrupt government that steals all taxes we pay. Hospitals of Rio de Janeiro and other cities are closed for lack of gloves and masks for the doctors. The situation is really bad here. Our country is great and our people work harder, if the government stop stealing we would not have those problems. The largest company in the country lost R$ 161 billions because of government Dilma Rousseff, government has disapproval of more than 80% of the population and won the election inventing a war between the rich and the poor. I do not know what will happen to children who are with dengue or zika because we dont have hospitals running. The people who were working combating mosquitoes in homes are on strike because they did not received their salaries. Worst of all is that the media does not want to show what is happening here. Excuse my bad english.

Re: Brazil declares emergency after 2,400 babies are born with brain damage

#125

This isn't the first dangerous disease spread by mosquitos, and may not be the last. Not to mention how incredibly annoying they are in general. I've been to Brazil a number of times, and the thing I could never understand is why, in a tropical country knee-deep in hungry disease causing mosquitos, is there not a single screen on any of the windows there? Big mistake, they're not expensive. They are cheaper and safer…

Most counties don't have window screens. They've rare I'm Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Most of those places also don't have residential air conditioning either.

Just a heads up that your second sentence doesn't parse. "They've rare I'm Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc"

I'll add that they are ubiquitous in Australia in my experience and non existent in Europe... again in my experience

Re: Brazil declares emergency after 2,400 babies are born with brain damage

#126

Brazilian here. Our country is broken, unemployment has never been greater and we have a corrupt government that steals all taxes we pay. Hospitals of Rio de Janeiro and other cities are closed for lack of gloves and masks for the doctors. The situation is really bad here. Our country is great and our people work harder, if the government stop stealing we would not have those problems. The largest company in the coun…

Hey Rafael, I'm guessing you born in 92...

"...unemployment has never been greater... "

in 1992 the unemployment rate was 12% in 2015 it will probably be around 7%

I will not fix the rest of your exaggerated mistakes, but there is a lot of them...

Re: Brazil declares emergency after 2,400 babies are born with brain damage

#128
post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I lived in Brazil, we had window screens, but it was on an affluent area in the coast of Rio. I'm not sure it made things that much better though. You need a lot of discipline to keep those screens shut all the time when you live in a tropical country and go outside all the time. We just learned that during the summer, around 7pm, it was time to close doors and windows and turn the A/C on.

In England at least you can't easily find them and even if you could your local council would likely not approve the planning permission to install them.

In England you don't have malaria or dengue.

But if you did the council would forbid you from doing anything about it, because hey, mosquito borne disease is historic.

Re: Brazil declares emergency after 2,400 babies are born with brain damage

#130

Brazilian here. Our country is broken, unemployment has never been greater and we have a corrupt government that steals all taxes we pay. Hospitals of Rio de Janeiro and other cities are closed for lack of gloves and masks for the doctors. The situation is really bad here. Our country is great and our people work harder, if the government stop stealing we would not have those problems. The largest company in the coun…

Brazilian here.

The situation has always been dire. We're just more aware of it now.

In fact I'd argue that it has been much worse in some sectors (remember hyper inflation? That was just less than 30 years ago).

The problem now is the growing pains and the polarization of opinion we're creating. We risk becoming a nation of black-and-white issues like, erm, the US.

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