Argentina Readies For Dengue, Swine Flu Double Whammy

With dengue fresh on peoples’ minds or in their bloodstreams, the Argentine government has been rushing to prepare for the possible arrival of swine flu in the country.

Health authorities said Monday that no confirmed cases of swing flu had been detected in Argentina and that passengers arriving from Mexico and the U.S. were being passively screened for flu-like symptoms.

Health Ministry officials also advised against non-essential travel to Mexico, where authorities suspect that nearly 150 people may have died because of the flu. One of those was a 36-year-old Argentine musician, Horacio Marano.

As of Monday, the Health Ministry here had confirmed 21,243 cases of dengue, leading critics to say the government is poorly prepared to deal with something as potentially devastating as a worldwide flu epidemic.

My colleague Matt Moffett wrote more about this here in a brief story for the WSJ.

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