Public health

Public hospitals in Costa Rica can refuse non-emergency care for self-employed workers who are behind in payments to the Social Security System, or Caja, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court, or Sala IV, ruled this week.

Health Vice Minister María Esther Anchía on Friday confirmed that a French tourist is officially the first patient to test positive for the chikungunya virus in Costa Rica.

Health Ministry officials are currently on alert to detect any possible cases of people infected with chikungunya virus, a desease that shares most of the same symptoms with dengue: high fever, headaches, muscle and joint pains, nausea and rash.

Last week, ruling party presidential candidate Johnny Araya tried to claim the mantle of family values, accusing opposition candidate Luis Guillermo Solís of having a different position than that of his own Citizen Action Party. While the abortion question could prove combustible in Costa Rica, Araya is not well positioned to strike the match.

In staging yet another protest, Costa Rica's Catholic Church aims to be heard during campaign season.

Costa Rica kicks off its flu vaccination campaign in public hospitals and clinics on Monday, a day early.

At nearly full capacity, the National Children's Hospital in San José has declared a state of emergency.

Doctors at a public hospital in Costa Rica refused to perform a therapeutic abortion last November, saying the woman's life was not at risk.

Thousands of Evangelical Christians, Catholics and social conservatives in Costa Rica mobilized against perceived threats to the "traditional" family and pushed a constitutional amendment to define marriage between a man and woman.

Another 19 people died from respiratory viruses this year.