mosquito

Thank you for praying for the dengue outbreak that I mentioned in this post. We’ve received some good news in recent weeks. Here’s an update from a missionary on the field:

October 27th

I just got off the phone with Rolando Perez, one of the pastor’s here in town. His 13 year old son Iram, who was very ill last week and in the hospital (with dengue), is recovering and getting stronger every day. He turned the corner three days ago with his platelet count and for the first time in over a week his platelet count remained on the upward instead of dropping to dangerously low levels. Everybody is breathing a sigh of relief and grateful to God.

Nahum, the superintendent’s son, is no longer dealing with the high fevers and his platelet count has also stabilized.

As far as I know, there are no new cases at our church, but there are two new cases at a church on the east side of town (Jorge Mijangos’ church) and a teacher (at Iberoamericana, the missionary’s son’s school) has possible dengue as well.

The papers here finally came out with two long articles about the crisis and how this week they were going to really crack down and fumigate the areas with the highest numbers of confirmed cases. I had to speak at a church in one of these areas last Saturday evening, and the fumigation trucks went up and down the streets right smack during my talk. Despite the very loud noise of the fumigation process, I was really glad to see the government stepping up to deal with the crisis.

Thanks again for your prayers. Let’s stay united for the physical and spiritual well-being of the Yucatan!

Dengue, also known as “bone break fever”, is a mosquito-borne illness that leads to fever, severe headaches, and joint pain. A more severe and sometimes fatal form of the disease, known as dengue hemorrhagic fever is on the rise in the city of Merida.

Being here in the States for itineration, we’ve received reports from fellow missionaries that the Yucatán, in addition to dealing with the ongoing problems of the swine flu, is now experiencing an outbreak of this serious disease. In their church, four cases have been reported. One case, a teenage boy, was so serious that he had to spend 5 days in the ICU with a temporary pacemaker before he responded to treatment. Our family doctor alone has reported having eight patients all with the serious hemorrhagic form of the disease in the hospital under his care.

Precautions are being taken by some, but the news media has remained strangely silent, perhaps preventing general measures from being taken to stem the spread of this dangerous disease.

In response to this report, we are asking you to pray.

• Pray for protection for those who have not contracted the disease and for healing for those who are currently suffering.
• Pray for an increased awareness among the public to help eradicate the breeding grounds for mosquitoes that carry the dengue virus.
• Pray for an increased effectiveness among the churches in compassionate outreach and bold proclamation as people deal with this life threatening situation.