This year, Brazil has already registered 86.9 thousand probable cases of chikungunya, with 19 deaths. The disease is concentrated in the states of Tocantins, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and Mato Grosso do Sul.
Zika cases were 6,295, and there were no deaths to date. The most affected states are Acre, Rondônia and Tocantins.
The Ministry of Health today launched a communication campaign and the Arboviruses Monitoring Panel, so that the population can consult the number of cases of each of the diseases, the symptoms and forms of prevention. An audiovisual piece will also be broadcast in the media.
“The idea of the communication campaign is to warn that, the faster you identify these signs and symptoms and seek the health service, the faster we will have the diagnosis and a better outcome for this case”, emphasized the Secretary of Surveillance in Health and Environment, Ethel Maciel.
deaths
Dengue deaths, however, dropped from 557 last year to 333 — there are still records under investigation that could change the 2023 data.
“In relation to the number of sick people, there were not so many, but they are deaths that worry us and that should not happen. We have a case of death from dengue, chikungunya and zika in the 21st century is a very important alert that we must improve”, said Ethel.
Still in relation to deaths, the Ministry of Health bets on the adequate training of health teams to prevent cases from getting worse.
“We know that, mainly in the case of dengue and chikungunya, a large proportion of deaths are due to inadequate patient management — timely diagnosis and adequate treatment throughout the process in which the disease sets in. We have to insist on this issue of training professionals so that it happens in time, and we can treat these patients, since it is practically impossible to avoid it”, added Frutuoso.
According to Ethel, it was observed that many people already arrived at the health units with severe cases of dehydration, which made treatment difficult.
Measurements
In March, the Ministry of Health had launched the COE (Emergency Operations Center) Arboviruses, to define strategies for controlling and reducing serious cases and deaths.
The folder will bet on two technologies that involve the mosquito itself Temples of the Egyptians to try to reduce the incidence of dengue, chikungunya and zika.
One of them, according to Ethel, involves the use of the bacteria Wolbachia.
“The mosquito is naturally infected by a bacterium, which prevents it from acquiring the virus and transmitting it,” he said.
An agreement signed in March between Fiocruz (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation) and WMP (World Mosquito Program) provides for the construction of a biofactory with capacity to produce up to 100,000 mosquitoes Temples of the Egyptians with the bacteria Wolbachia per week.
The schedule predicts that the biofactory will start operating next year. The investment will be R$ 100 million.
Another technology that should be introduced is the sterile mosquito, which is genetically modified to lay eggs that do not turn into larvae, that is, they do not generate other insects.
