Ernesto Azarkevich
02/16/2020 - 15:54
- Clarín.com
- Society
Although still slow, in Misiones dengue cases began to increase in recent weeks and the regional context suggests that the situation will become much more complicated as the days go by. The Ministry of Public Health of the province confirmed 75 positive cases, of which 12 were reported in the last week.
Misiones is the province with the highest number of dengue cases in the country and so far this year the presence of serotypes DEN 1 and 2 was detected, although there are still no viral circulation but only some isolated cases. There were also several cases of the DEN 4 strain last year.
Of the total cases confirmed in Missions through analysis, 67 correspond to DEN 1; and only 8 to DEN in patients who admitted recent trips to Paraguay , where the number of affected exceeds 4,250, with 16 deaths. The health authorities of the neighboring country have under study another 89 deaths and 85,000 suspicious cases, mostly in the Greater Asunción area.
The Ministry of Public Health explained that one of the possible reasons for the still low number of cases in the province is because many people already contracted the disease during the 2015/16 epidemic, when Misiones reported more than 13,700 cases.
The person who already had dengue will not develop the viremia again when it is bitten by an Aedes Aegypti mosquito that carries the disease, as long as it is the same serotype . Is that the immune system already has the necessary tools to prevent disease.
In contrast, successive infection with two different serotypes is a risk factor for developing severe forms of the disease.
The cities with the most cases in Misiones are Andresito and Puerto Iguazú - north of the province - followed by Eldorado and Oberá. But cases were also confirmed in eight other locations in the South and Central zones.
In Paraguay the situation is very complicated. An average of 19,000 suspected cases were reported per week between the end of January and the last days. Of that total, 77 percent correspond to the departments of Asunción and Central.
Paraguayan and PAHO / WHO authorities at a press conference last Friday in the face of concerns about the progress of dengue in that country.
In Paraguay there is viral circulation of serotypes DEN 2 and 4, with predominance of the latter. According to the Ministry of Public Health of Paraguay, the presence of the two viral variants was detected in twelve health regions, thereby raising the possibility of severe or hemorrhagic dengue cases.
The 16 deaths reported so far this year equals the amount that occurred in 2016, but is still far from the 252 lives that the disease claimed in 2013.
In Brazil, the picture is not more encouraging. 57,485 cases were reported until the end of January, a figure that is higher than last year and triples that of 2018. In addition, nine deaths from dengue have already occurred and there are another 41 cases under analysis.
In the State of Paraná - limited with Missions - in the first ten days of February he reported the death of six patients due to the virus. Precisely that state is one of the most affected after Sao Paulo. Paraná reported 27% of the cases registered in Brazil and in at least 50 cities already confirmed the circulation of the virus.
Dengue is a viral disease whose symptoms are high fever, headaches and muscle, abdominal and joint pain . And in some cases patients also reported nausea and vomiting.
Affected people should remain in their homes for a week and use repellents to avoid the bite of the vector, so that mosquitoes carrying the virus do not multiply.
Missions. Correspondent
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