Unprecedented health warning in America due to more than eight million reported cases of dengue fever.
They were recorded on the American continent this year. over 8.1 million dengue cases in an unprecedented epidemic that has tested health systems, as pointed out this Thursday by experts convened by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
“Experts warn that major dengue outbreaks may become the norm in the future as climate change This leads to longer and warmer rainy seasons,” Beatriz Garcia Nizza, an expert at the Wilson Center, said in a teleconference. “In Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, among others, dengue fever has tested health systems,” she added.
Sylvain Aldighieri, director of the Department of Infectious Disease Prevention at PAHO, explained that “2024 risks being the year of dengue with the highest number of reported cases.” “So far this year we have already three times more documented cases than cases reported during the same period in 2023 which has already become a record for the number of registered cases,” the official added.
“Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay accounted for 90% of the new cases reported in all of the Americas.” This week PAHO issued an epidemiological alert on dengue fever and indicated that more than 3,600 deaths had been reported. The organization called on countries in Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean to take action to stop the epidemic.
In Mexico and some Central American countries, dengue fever cases will continue until May 24. They have already increased the numbers 2.5-6 times higher. that between January and May 2023, while in the Caribbean region the total number of cases is 5.7 times higher than those recorded during the same period last year. Although in much smaller numbers, cases of dengue have been reported in Arizona, Florida and the Texas coast in the US, and last summer, during an unprecedented heat wave in Europe, there were cases of local virus in France, Italy and Spain.
Esper Georges Callas, director of the Brazilian Butantan Institute, noted that the spread of the disease “shows that the mosquito vector is very resilient. In the spread of the disease, Callas added, changing of the climate And socio-economic conditions what segments of the population live in and what contributes to “exponential growth” of infections.
What is dengue?
Dengue febrile illness Transmitted through the bite of a mosquito (Aedes aegypti). widespread in America and it affects infants, children and adults.
According to PAHO, no specific medicine for the treatment of dengue fever, infection of which may be asymptomatic or present with symptoms ranging from moderate to high, disabling fever, headaches, muscle pain and rash. The disease can take a severe course, characterized by difficulty breathing, severe bleeding and organ complications.