Brazil registered around 218 thousand probable cases of dengue and 15 deaths due to the disease in the first four weeks of 2024. The numbers were updated this Tuesday (30), by the Ministry of Health, and presented at a meeting in the Council auditorium National Health Secretaries (Conass), in Brasília (DF).
The number represents an increase of 233% compared to that recorded in the same period in 2023. In January 2024, to date, 149 deaths are under investigation. The fatality rate, calculated based on severe dengue cases with warning signs, is 0.9%.
The ministry today promoted a meeting between the National Arbovirus Room, the State Health Secretariat of the Federal District (SES-DF), the SES of Goiás and municipal health departments in the region surrounding Brasília to discuss and present prevention actions and control of dengue in Brazil.
The governments of DF and Minas Gerais declared a public health emergency last week due to cases of dengue fever in their territories.
Data presented at the meeting by Livia Vinhal, a technician who works in the general coordination of arbovirus surveillance at the Ministry of Health, shows that there were approximately 218 thousand probable cases of dengue in the country, in the period between weeks one and four of this year.
Paraná, Minas Gerais, Goiás, Distrito Federal and Acre are the places with the highest incidence rates of the disease. The vector of dengue is highly domestic, and climate change and the El Niño weather phenomenon contribute to the increase in cases in the country this year.
At the meeting, the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, highlighted that it is a time “to prevent and at the same time to care”. “I think we need to be very clear at this moment. We still need to prevent transmission within homes with such strong data that Livia provided.” More than 70% of dengue transmission occurs in homes. The minister appealed to citizens to take care of this environment.
Still according to her, the Qdenga vaccine, incorporated into the SUS, “is a factor of importance and hope as well, but it will not have an impact in these current situations”. Nísia Trindade explained that the vaccine is applied within a period of three months and the supply is very restricted, preventing it from being “a solution in the face of an emergency situation”. “But it is essential that we have done this in our country.”
At the moment, there is no emergency situation due to dengue in the Northeast, but, Nísia pointed out, it is necessary to anticipate throughout Brazil to prevent the spread of the condition.
“We will be working together with states and municipalities to save lives at this time. Dengue is a disease for which it is possible for us to avoid the severe form in a very clear way”, said the minister. In her words, “it is very important that the population does not self-medicate”. People need to go to health units and undergo correct case monitoring.
Data modeling commissioned by the Ministry of Health from InfoDengue shows that more than 1 million cases of dengue should be registered in Brazil in 2024. Among the actions to combat the disease this year adopted by the Ministry of Health are normalizing the stock of insecticides, launch of a social mobilization campaign and dissemination, starting this Monday (29), of daily reports on the disease scenario in the country.
The next steps in the department’s coping strategy include the provision of two webinars, including one on the clinical management of people with the disease, and the involvement of other ministries, such as Education, in the fight against dengue.
Chikungunya
At the beginning of the meeting in the Conass auditorium, Livia Vinhal highlighted not only the cases of dengue registered in Brazil in the first weeks of the year, but also those of chikungunya. There were approximately 13 thousand probable cases, with three confirmed deaths and 11 under investigation.
According to the technique, the incidence rate of chikungunya is much lower than that of dengue, but, when treated, the cases have similar symptoms, and some confusion may occur at the beginning of the year until the occurrences are confirmed.
Both diseases are transmitted by the female Aedes aegypti mosquito. To prevent them, it is necessary to prevent people from being bitten by these infected females. The fight in both cases, therefore, involves preventing mosquitoes from being born, avoiding leaving standing water in any object that may have a breeding ground.
