If recession,
successive investment downgrades, mounting unemployment and a distrusted federal
administration were not enough causes for concern, now a mosquito-transmitted disease
detected in dozens of different countries adds to the Brazilian people’s state
of astrological hell.
True, it is
indeed a health hazard that in Brazil denounces flaws in the expansion of
sanitation infrastructures which continued to be neglected during the recent
years of plenty. Even though shameful for conscientious Brazilian nationals, the
story has been driven completely out of proportion.
Rumors that
zika – said to be brief and void of serious symptoms – may be linked to brain
malformation in fetuses are yet to be proven. For the record, dengue fever,
carried around by the same insect, is said to be more severe, especially if
recurrent. Here a vaccine is fortunately on its way.
Despite the
reigning widespread panic, it must be said that, though the mood of people may
not be at its brightest right now, the masses are not being decimated on the
streets either. At least there is general awareness of the risks and action is
being taken.
