Dengue deaths in Brazil top 2,000 this year

Brazilfacing the worst epidemic dengue Throughout its history this year it registered record 2073 deaths due to the disease, not counting 2,291 suspicious deaths that are still under investigation, the health ministry said on Tuesday.

The number of deaths has almost doubled There were 1,094 deaths reported in all of 2023, which has been the year with the most deaths so far, according to an epidemiological bulletin released by the organization on Tuesday.

Dengue deaths in first four months of this year exceed more than three times 671 registered in same period 2023.

The number of probable cases is also a record.with 4.1 million through Monday.

The number of infections this year is almost 150% higher than all of 2015 (1.6 million), which was the year with the highest number of infections so far, and four times higher than the same period in 2023.

The Health Ministry predicts Brazil will end this year with a new record of about 4.4 million cases.

After the end of summer, the rate of infection slowed sharply.This is the time of greatest illness due to heat and humidity, conditions conducive to the spread of mosquito vectors.

“I like to quote the metaphor that we have already climbed the mountain and now we are coming down. But in this recession there are still many cases that can be reported and deaths that can be avoided. That’s why we need to stay alert“, said the Secretary of Sanitary Inspection of the Ministry of Health. Ethel Macielat a press conference.

The current epidemic is associated with consequences of the El Niño climate phenomenonwhich has led to rising temperatures and increased rainfall across the country, facilitating the spread of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits dengue fever.

At the height of the epidemic in February, Brazil became the first country in the world to offer a dengue vaccine through its public health system, although the small number of doses available has limited its use to children and teenagers.

(According to EFE)