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Inhabitants of the western and southern neighborhoods of São Paulo complain about the large number of mosquitoes in their homes and on the streets. But the complaints are different. While in a region, neighbors say they are not used to the problem at this time of year; in another, they complain that the number of mosquitoes is uncomfortable throughout the year.
The City Council says that the pest control service was not interrupted or reduced during the quarantine and 1,142 agents are working on mosquito control in the city. The only orientation that has changed is that these agents do not enter people’s homes. (read below)
“Use spray, in the late afternoon I close the whole house to reduce the circulation of mosquitoes and use an electric racket “, says journalist Paula Lieff, 44, who lives in Alto de Pinheiros, west zone.” Something impressive. It is a cloud of mosquitoes, more aggressive, the repellants do not handle. You kill and there is always more. We are in winter with a summer face because of this infestation ”.
Lawyer Marcelo Campagnolo, 55, who is vice president of SAAP (Asociación Amigo del Alto do Pinheiros), says that he has already received several complaints and that he himself has been affected by the infestation. “I have to close the windows at 5 in the afternoon, otherwise it is impossible to stay home. I have had this problem for at least 60 days.”
Other residents living near the Pinheiros River have complained on social media and even started a petition to try to resolve the problem. Until yesterday, the document had more than 30 thousand signatures.
Photo shows dead mosquitoes in Marcelo Campagnolo’s bathroom Image: Personal archive
On the banks of the dam, the time of year doesn’t matter
On the banks of the reservoirs in the south of the capital, the impression is that the time of year or the temperature does not matter.
“Here we always suffer from mosquitoes. The City Council sometimes smokes, but nothing changes. At breakfast, at dinner, in the cold or in the heat, mosquitoes are the most common here,” he says. domestic employee Rosangela Cristina, 53 years old, resident in Jardim Castro Alves, in the region of Billings.
“But also, what are we going to wait for? Open stream, garbage on the sidewalks, nearby forests without maintenance. Even I, who am not studied, know that these animals only appear with dirt.”
At Jardim Guarapiranga, near the dam of the same name, reception assistant Kelly Santos, 28, says mosquitoes are uncomfortable inside and outside the house.
“You can’t just leave a pan on the stove that looks like several flying,” he says. “There is a lack of greater care in hygiene and cleaning services, especially on the banks of rivers and dams.”
Paula Lieff’s routine: insecticide and racket on the window every day Image: Personal archive
Light, heat and humidity attract mosquitoes, say biologists
There are no studies that show an increased proliferation of mosquitoes this year. To understand what is happening, Twitter I spoke with three biologists.
The director of the Biology Institute of the UFBA (Federal University of Bahia), Francisco Kelmo, confirms that mosquitoes reproduce near water sources and benefit from heat. Therefore, the high temperature at that time may have influenced it. And quarantine too.
He states that these insects are attracted to light, which is why, inside buildings, they appear more at dusk, when the lights are on.
“With the pandemic, the lights go out in many establishments and those in the houses are turned on. Thus, mosquitoes go where a light is on. Another factor is that they are attracted to substances that are released in people’s sweat, ”he says.
The biologist Paulo Roberto Urbinatti, entomologist at the USP School of Public Health (University of São Paulo), believes that the sensation of increased numbers of mosquitoes can be explained by the permanence of people in their homes in quarantine. But he does not rule out the relationship with the temperature, which has been high in recent days.
“There is a mosquito all year round, but the most common is in summer. The seasons are no longer defined as before. It is an unusual thing. This has favored the early appearance of these mosquitoes out of season, “he says.
Sérgio dos Santos Bocalini, a specialist in urban entomology at the Unesp Institute of Biosciences (Universidade Estadual Paulista) and a Master of Science from USP, highlights the importance of cleaning services.
“This infestation occurs due to the mosquito’s behavior of laying its eggs in rivers and streams. With the large amount of organic matter in these places – wastewater – and with the lack of rain, this organic matter ends up concentrating and the increase in temperature contributes to accelerate the development of these mosquitoes ”, he says.
Service continued in pandemic, says City Hall
The City Council states, in a note, that the pest control services continued normally, despite the new coronavirus pandemic. According to the municipal administration, there was no reduction in the workforce and 1,142 environmental health and anti-endemic agents are working on mosquito control actions.
“There were only technical guidelines for agents not to enter houses and maintain inspections for the elimination of breeding sites in yards, garages and gardens. Before the pandemic, the entire residence was inspected ”, says the note.
Also according to the City Council, more than 2.7 million visits were made to control mosquitoes between January and August of this year, an increase of 7.7% compared to the same period last year.
The City says it has spent more on PPE (personal protective equipment) and mosquito control equipment. In 2019, there were approximately R $ 4.2 million in PPE. Between January and August of this year, the value reached R $ 3.4 million.
The municipal administration states that Cleaning services, such as weeding, stream cleaning, wolfholes, gallery maintenance, tree pruning and hole plugging, also continued to be quarantined.
“The works are carried out periodically throughout the city. In the Pinheiros, Capela do Socorro and Santo Amaro Subprefecture regions, 298.6 thousand tons of waste were collected from January to July ”, says the note.
Yesterday on Twitter, Governor João Doria (PSDB) said that there was no interruption in the Pinheiros river sanitation works during the pandemic. The work, which includes removing debris from the river, should be completed by December 2022.
To complain about mosquitoes and mosquitoes, the City of São Paulo advises calling 156.
