In two weeks, dengue cases increased 29% in Brazil.
The numbers of dengue cases grew 29% in the first 2 weeks of March, according to the Ministry of Health.
From the beginning of the year until March 30, 86 people died from the disease, 35 more than in 2018.
In the first 3 months of this year, about 322 thousand cases of dengue were diagnosed across the country. This represents a growth of 303% compared to the same period last year.
The regions that most present cases of the disease are:
- Southeast Region: with 66.3% of cases across Brazil;
- Midwest Region: with 17.4% of cases across Brazil;
- Northeast Region: as 7.5% of the cases in all Brazil;
- North Region: with 5.4% of cases throughout Brazil;
- South Region: with 3.4% of cases throughout Brazil.
For every 100 thousand inhabitants, the state of Tocantins registers 687 cases of dengue, being the state with the most occurrences of the disease. Next comes the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, with 518 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants.
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Goiás, Acre, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, respectively, are the next Brazilian states with the most diagnoses of dengue. All with more than 300 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants.
New strategies to combat dengue
The municipalities of Campo Grande (MT), Petrolina (PE) and Belo Horizonte (MG) will test the final phase of the World Mosquito Program Brazil (WMPBrasil).
This project, based on studies carried out in Australia, intends to implant a bacterium in the mosquito that transmits dengue as a way to reduce the circulation of the agent.
The municipalities were chosen because, thus, one can have an idea of how the experiment will be effective in the 3 Brazilian regions that present the greatest dengue outbreaks: Midwest, Southeast and Northeast.
The Wolbachia is a bacterium that is injected into the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes generates less playability.
As the infected females also generate offspring with Wolbachia , the next generations of mosquitoes are less and less able to transmit the dengue virus.
As this bacterium only lives inside the insect organism, the method is safe for people and the environment.
The tests in these cities will last for 3 years and will be done by the Oswaldo Cruz Institute in partnership with the Ministry of Health.
If the results are as expected, Wolbachia will be implanted in mosquitoes in other regions of the country, say the researchers.
Municipalities in Rio de Janeiro have been part of previous tests and received mosquitoes with Wolbachia present in organisms and countries such as Australia, Colombia, Vietnam and India are also testing this method of combating dengue.
Dengue
Dengue is transmitted by the female of Aedes aegypti, but only if the mosquito is infected. For this reason, it is important to combat Aedes by avoiding leaving standing water and cleaning backyards and vacant lots.
There are four dengue biotypes (serotypes 1, 2, 3 and 4). If a person is infected by one of these biotypes, they will be specifically immune to it, that is, they can still get dengue 3 more times.
The main symptoms of the disease are:
- Fever above 38 degrees;
- Muscle aches;
- Headache;
- Fatigue;
- Lack of appetite;
- Red spots scattered over the body.
In addition, vomiting and bleeding are also related to the disease.
The diagnosis can be made by a doctor in the office, but the suspicion is confirmed by laboratory tests.
If the case of dengue is confirmed, the Ministry of Health needs to be notified within 24 hours.
Treatment involves medications prescribed by the doctor, in addition to rest and fluid intake.
New methods of controlling dengue, such as the bacterium Wolbachia, are being developed and tested. Even so, it is still important that everyone does their part with that very simple recommendation: don’t leave standing water!
The fight against the dengue mosquito needs to be done by all of us.
