Dengue spurs scurry for spray
Shelves have gone empty, as residents hunt in vain and resort to DIY alternatives. And surging resale prices are shocking even to Argentines accustomed to tripledigit inflation. The country’s latest crisis: There isn’t enough mosquito repellent.
As the South American country contends with its worst outbreak of dengue fever in recent memory, bug spray has become this season’s hot-ticket item. It’s sold out in virtually all Buenos Aires stores and going for exorbitant prices online, in some cases as much as 10 times the retail value.
“We’ve been to at least 30 pharmacies all over the city and there is nothing left,” Ana Infante said as she swatted mosquitoes away from her two small daughters, their arms visibly pocked with red bumps. Infante, 42, joined the frenzied race for repellent when her co-worker at an empanada shop fell seriously ill with dengue last week. “All we have is this,” she said, raising her swatting hand.
“I feel helpless, because I know I can’t do anything,” said Marta Velarde, a 65-year-old shop owner in Buenos Aires, recalling how a distraught customer recently threatened to punch her in the face when she broke the news she had no repellent left. “You have no explanation and people are very aggressive.”
As public outrage mounted and the repellent shortage evolved from nuisance to national news, the government — busy battling sky-high inflation and neardaily protests — was forced to intervene. On Thursday, authorities lifted import restrictions on foreign-made mosquito repellents to boost supply and announced they would ramp up production at local labs.
The mosquito-borne illness has long been endemic in countries like Brazil and Colombia, but experts warn the worsening outbreak in Argentina means the Aedes aegypti mosquito has widened its range. Dengue infections in Argentina have soared to over 180,500 this season, health authorities said, with 129 deaths. That’s six times higher than last season’s count, which was already the worst on record. Health experts attribute the dengue surge to multiple factors, including the El Niño ocean warming effect and climate change. Recent drenching rains that flooded Buenos Aires have created ideal breeding conditions for mosquitoes.
In an online Buenos Aires forum on Reddit that normally is preoccupied with soccer match tickets, many users now focus on where to procure scarce repellant. “I am willing to pay dearly,” read one post.
Since February, wholesalers have hiked prices and some Argentines have stockpiled repellent to resell when stores run out. Now most lotions and sprays online fetch between $20 and $40 — five or10 times the original market price.