The number of dengue cases in Brazil grew 43.9% in the first months of the year, according to data from the Ministry of Health released this Monday (21). Between January 2 and March 12, 2022, there were 161,605 notifications of likely infected people, with an incidence of 75.8 per 100,000 inhabitants.
The coordinator of InfoDengue at Fiocruz, Cláudia Codeço, assesses that the scenario is one of attention. “Last year, we had low dengue activity, so the increase itself would not be that much. But if we compare the history of several dengue seasons, we can see that it approaches the high rates of 2016 and 2020,” she said.
According to the epidemiological bulletin of the Ministry of Health, the Midwest region had the highest incidence rate, with 204.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by the North (97.4 cases/100,000 inhabitants), the South (49 cases/100,000 inhabitants). 100 thousand inhabitants), Southeast (47.9 cases/100 thousand inhabitants) and Northeast (31 cases/100 thousand inhabitants).
Among the municipalities, Goiânia (GO) leads the ranking, with Brasília (DF) in second place, Palmas (TO) in third and São José do Rio Preto (SP) in fourth.
Cláudia Codeço points out that the disease is advancing into new territories. “Dengue has been emerging and spreading in places that did not have it before, mainly municipalities with smaller populations in the south of the country, in Paraná and west of Santa Catarina”, she pointed out.
The InfoDengue coordinator believes that the increase in cases may have been caused by the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on actions to control the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the agent that transmits the disease, or even by the rainy season recorded in early 2022.
Given this scenario, Cláudia Codeço argues that the reaction must come from the public authorities and citizens. “It is very important, from the point of view of the public authorities, to strengthen surveillance and endemic services. Many of these teams are precarious, tired, especially in smaller places with a lot of action. It is essential that they are able to make home visits, something made difficult by the pandemic ”, she pointed out.
The population, on the other hand, needs to remember the basic care of emptying stagnant water points, such as potted plants, water tanks and swimming pools.
As of March 12, the country has recorded 154 serious cases of dengue and 1,504 with warning signs – symptoms such as severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting and bleeding gums, which indicate a serious condition.
Chikungunya and Zika
The Aedes aegypti mosquito also causes Zika and chikungunya. In the case of Zika, there was an 11.5% increase in the number of cases between January 2 and February 26 this year compared to the same period in 2021, with an incidence of 0.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Chikungunya, on the other hand, recorded a drop of 10.4% between January 2 and March 12, 2022, compared to the same period last year.
The three diseases that have Aedes aegypti as the transmitter have similar symptoms, such as fever, headache, joint pain and red spots on the body. The coordinator of InfoDengue at Fiocruz, Cláudia Codeço, highlights that attention to the signs is necessary for a diagnosis.
“These diseases are very confused in the initial conditions, they are feverish conditions, generic symptoms. The important thing is to be aware of what is circulating around, to know if it is dengue, chikungunya, and to be aware of any sign of high fever, sudden increase, this person should seek health care”, he warned.
Source: CNN Brasil
