The Ministry of Health is working to contain the increase in dengue cases in Brazil. Last Thursday (9), the ministry announced the National Containment Plan for Dengue and other Arboviruses, in addition to installing the Emergency Operations Center (COE).
In an interview with CNN the Secretary of Health and Environmental Surveillance of the Ministry of Health, Ethel Maciel, assessed that the increase in dengue cases expected for 2025 was not confirmed. “What we are seeing now is that the increase (in cases) did not happen, fortunately. The picture is more similar to 2023 than 2024”, he stated.
Considering data from the ministry’s Arbovirus Monitoring Panel, in the first two weeks of 2023, Brazil had 26,978 cases of dengue, with 18 deaths from the disease.
In the same period of 2024, the country registered 112,956 cases, with 102 confirmed deaths. In 2025, until this Thursday (16), 52,938 dengue diagnoses were recorded, with four confirmed deaths. Another 56 are under investigation. “It is not an explosive increase, as we saw last year”, assessed Maciel.
The secretary said, however, that the ministry is closely monitoring the return of dengue serotype 3, which has been out of circulation since 2008. “2025 will not be the same as 2024. But, we have an alert element which is serotype 3, which was not circulating in previous years. We are monitoring the behavior of the virus and issuing alerts to states and municipalities”, he explained.
In the last few weeks of last year, 40.8% of dengue cases were caused by serotype 3. Data from the ministry indicate a greater circulation in São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Amapá and Paraná.
The government of Acre announced last week that it had declared a public health emergency due to febrile syndromes caused mainly by arboviruses. A team from the Ministry of Health went to the state to provide support.
Prevention and combat
During the interview, secretary Ethel Maciel highlighted the actions of the Ministry of Health, such as bringing forward the “D-Day” of vaccination to December 14, 2024, and the use of science and technology in favor of work against the Aedes Aegypti mosquito. .
“The big news is being able to transpose what we have in scientific evidence and be able to use it in public health, such as the Wolbachia method,” he said.
The “Wolbachia method” consists of infecting some aedes aegypti mosquitoes with a bacterium that prevents the development of the dengue virus. Then, the mosquitoes are released to reproduce, thus creating a new population of insects already containing the Wolbachia bacteria.
Last year, the method was used in three municipalities. In 2025, the strategy will be applied in 40 cities. The secretary explains that implementation depends on educating society, since mosquitoes cannot be killed in this method. “There is a lot of community education work to receive the method. A complete monitoring of mosquitoes”, he commented.
The department has also worked with sterile insects, to reduce the Aedes population. This model is recommended for areas where low environmental impact is required. According to Maciel, the strategy should be used in indigenous areas and also in Fernando de Noronha (PE).
Another tactic used has been the installation of EDL’s, Larvicide Disseminating Stations. In this case, devices filled with water are placed as a type of “trap” for the females. Insecticide is placed in the water, thus, the female becomes contaminated and takes the material to other areas.
Still according to Ethel Maciel, the Ministry of Health’s focus has been on permanent contact with state and municipal departments. The secretary informed that the department has a schedule of visits for intensive support.
For the Secretary of Health and Environmental Surveillance, the measures aim to improve the national response to the disease, in particular, to improve the health system to receive patients.
The Ministry of Health identified that, last year, part of the deaths recorded were people who sought care and were not treated in the best way. “Many people went to health services many times, but there is a problem in understanding that the case is getting more serious,” said Maciel.
Because of this, the use of the dengue risk classification application by health agents was reinforced.
This content was originally published in Dengue: “2025 will not be the same as 2024”, says secretary of the Ministry of Health on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
