BUENOS AIRES: Argentina is facing an insect repellent shortage as it prepares for its worst-ever dengue season. Dengue is a mosquito-borne virus that can be deadly, or cause serious disease, in some cases.
A dengue vaccine has been developed but its rollout is still in early stages and most people still rely on preventative measures to avoid the dangerous virus. People in Argentina report that it is almost impossible to buy repellent.
Many pharmacies and supermarkets have displayed “no repellent” signs, and in the few places where it is still available, particularly online, resale prices are astronomical, BBC reported.
The government has attributed the issue to a “bottleneck” that will be fixed in the coming days. But many people, especially in the capital Buenos Aires, are fearful at a time when hundreds of thousands of Argentines have already been infected.
A shortage of repellents started to be noticed in March. The shortages were reportedly due to a forecast error and that manufacturing the product took months. Minister of Health Mario Russo said that it was a problem between supply and demand.
Dengue Cases in Argentina
Argentina’s health ministry said that the country had reported 163,419 cases of dengue fever so far this year and that deaths had been recorded in all age groups – with the highest mortality rate among those over 80 years old.
