The fact that in 2023 there has been a
record number of dengue cases
, and that infections in the country have not stopped throughout the winter, has been the
negative starting point
for this season.
The base of
infected Argentines
multiplied last year (the records are a minimal part of the number of truly infected, many asymptomatic) and that has meant that more people are susceptible to contracting the disease a second time, which makes it more dangerous.
The proportion of people suffering from severe dengue is relatively low:
0.20 percent
(it would be even lower if those who are asymptomatic and not diagnosed by the health system were taken into account).
The problem is that among those who suffer from these serious conditions,
the fatality rate is very high
.
According to data from the National Epidemiological Bulletin (BEN) published this Saturday, so far this season
118 people have required hospitalization
(out of 57,210 registered cases), of which 38 have died:
32 percent
.
In the entire previous season there were 65 deaths.
Serious cases usually occur when a person has already had
one of the four
dengue serotypes that exist and is infected with another for the second time.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito, transmitter of dengue.
Photo: AP
That is why those who already know they have had dengue are recommended to take the vaccine now available, which reduces the possibility of serious illness by
80 percent
.
The problem is that many people who have already had dengue
do not know it
.
This year the
DEN-1 and DEN-2
serotypes are circulating , with the second predominating (similar to last year), and a minority (but growing) participation of
DEN-3
.
In 20 of the 38 deaths, the serotype involved could be determined:
12 corresponded to DEN-2 and 8, to DEN-1
.
The provinces with the most deaths are Chaco (12) and Misiones (12), also corresponding to a greater number of cases.
The largest number of deaths (20 of the total) occurred in the population group from
20 to 49 years old
.
Only in 11 fatal cases were
comorbidities
recorded : heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney failure were the most frequent.
How to act against severe dengue
Marcelo Abril, executive director of the Mundo Sano Foundation, asked for special attention to cases of
severe dengue
, in which "the patient has to be very attentive."
He explained that the condition “usually appears when
the fever has subsided
after the first stage of the disease, but then the second phase may appear with
other symptoms
, such as intense abdominal pain, vomiting, bleeding from the gums and nose, an intense feeling of tiredness and drowsiness or confusion.”
Symptoms of severe dengue may appear when the fever has already subsided.
It is at that moment that the medical consultation
should not wait
, so that the doctors have the greatest possible margin to try to stabilize the patient.
“What the
vaccine
achieves most effectively, as proven by the clinical trial in
eight out of ten
cases, is precisely to prevent the infected person from reaching that state that requires hospitalization.
While mild dengue also counteracts it but by
60 percent
,” added Abril.
The rise in dengue cases - transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and not by the flood that today invades the City and the Suburbs - is constant week after week.
With the registration of the last seven reported days, 9 thousand new infections
were added
in the country.
The amount has no point of comparison with what was recorded at this same time in 2023: then there were
only 1,517 cases
.
That is to say that so far this season the mark is
2,546 percent higher
.
If only the last reported week (the seventh of the year) is taken into account, the number of cases was
seven times higher
than the same week last year.
What is happening with dengue in Argentina and why is it having an increasing
incidence
?
“It is difficult to point to a single cause, it is rather multi-causal.
On the one hand, we are seeing a progression of this infection throughout
the region
.
And climate change can have an impact (
there is indigenous dengue increasingly further south
) but also the disorderly growth of cities, with the increase in
precarious settlements
that contribute to the mosquito's proliferation," says Abril.
Preparation of a dose of the dengue vaccine in Brazil.
Photo: AP
The Pan American Health Organization issued an
epidemiological alert
on February 16 in which it called to “facilitate access and adequate management of patients to
prevent complications and deaths
associated with this disease.”
He also called for expanding communication campaigns “to reduce mosquito breeding sites and the search for timely medical attention.”
P.S.