British top model Naomi Campbell said yesterday that she was not allowed to donate blood to help victims of the dengue fever in Rio de Janeiro state of Brazilas she received a surgery recently.

Campbell told the media that she could not make the donation because she underwent a surgery to remove a cyst five weeks ago in Sao Paulo.

But the model managed to participate in a public campaign aimed at stimulating blood donation in Rio de Janeiro city, where patients infected with the dengue fever have been needing platelet transfusions to counter the effects of the disease.

Wearing the campaign's T-shirt, Campbell went to Rio's hematology institute. Although she expressed her unwillingness to approach the epidemic politically, she asked authorities to do more to help infected patients.

In early April, the federal court demanded that all the 145 medical centers operated by the government of Rio city be open 24 hours a day during the epidemic.

But Rio Mayor Cesar Maia argued it was impossible to meet the requirement due to the lack of security in high-crime areas surrounding at least 84 of those facilities.

Dengue, which targets the human immune system, has killed 83 people since January and infected more than 75,000 in Rio de Janeiro state, according to official figures.

A total of 51 deaths are registered in the most severely hit Rio city, where a total of 50,386 people are infected.

Brazilian officials said the outbreak is still at its peak, far from being contained.