Peru declares a health emergency in 20 regions after 32 deaths from dengue

Since the nineties, the dengue virus has been a latent threat to Peruvians.

But as happens with other catastrophes, it usually catches the State off guard, which acts with the clock against, when the situation has already escalated.

After an alarming 2023, with 18 deaths and 12,264 infections due to the Aedes aegypti mosquito, specialists had given clear recommendations on what to do to prevent similar damage to public health.

Among them are prevention measures, purchase of medicines, communication strategies, improvement of infrastructure, training of professionals, and greater access of the population to drinking water, since, as is known, the mosquito deposits its eggs in stagnant waters.

However, the authorities' response has once again been late.

On February 5, when cases had skyrocketed and a dozen deaths had been reported, Health Minister César Vásquez Sánchez denied that it was an epidemic and considered that a declaration of emergency was not yet necessary.

Three weeks later, the Government has reversed course and accepted the crisis, declaring a state of emergency in 20 regions for a period of 90 days.

In just two months, dengue has killed more Peruvians than in all of 2023: 32 confirmed deaths, to which another eight that are under investigation would be added and, in addition, 31,364 infected.

According to statistics, if the same period of time is taken into account, the increase compared to 2023 is 97%.

“It is not yet an epidemic situation in Lima, but we cannot wait for an unsustainable situation to arrive.

That is why instead of declaring an emergency in the five regions where there are the most cases, we have decided to go to the 20 that are at imminent risk and where the contagion can grow," Minister Vásquez justified, now assuming the commitment of the prevention.

Until the seventh week, according to the National Center for Epidemiology, Prevention and Disease Control, the regions where the virus has spread the most are: La Libertad (4,207), Piura (4,155), Ica (3,313), Áncash (2,462) , San Martín (1,633) and Lima (1,495).

The worrying thing is when it is compared with the prevalence of previous years in the same period of time: for example, the coastal region of Libertad barely registered fourteen cases at this point in 2023. Áncash had only three infected people and Lima, twenty-two.

The forecasts are not encouraging at all.

And the Minister of Health himself has not been able to hide it: “March and April are going to be much stronger,” he said briefly about the growth of the contagion curve.

Added to the health deficiencies is the context: the weather conditions, the oven that the cities have become and the intense rains due to the El Niño Phenomenon.

As the temperature increases, the regiment of adult mosquitoes expands for a reason: their development, which previously took a week, is now express: it takes three days on average.

It is necessary to emphasize that there are regions where drinking water is scarce, and they usually use buckets and other reservoirs that, if they do not have the necessary care, end up becoming a source of dengue.

According to the National Superintendency of Sanitation Services (Sunass), 3.3 million Peruvians still do not have a public drinking water network and 6.4 million do not have sewage connections.

For infectious disease specialist Juan Carlos Celis, the most important thing is to ensure hospital care rather than fumigation.

"Everything is written.

The problem is the force and speed with which it is done.

It is already late for fumigation campaigns.

What is needed are complete dengue units: 12 beds, 5 doctors, 5 nurses and 10 technicians.

All trained.

For thirty hospitalized patients, a minimum of two complete teams.

Unfortunately, history repeats itself,” he points out.

Three of the four known dengue serotypes currently circulate in Peru: DENV-1, DENV-2 and DENV-3.

As is known, the most common symptoms of dengue are high fever, muscle pain, rash, dehydration and headaches.

If not treated promptly, the clinical picture can become complicated and compromise vital organs.

In addition to triggering effects on the nervous system, as well as the blood system (a significant decrease in platelets).

According to the Pan American Health Organization, until the sixth week of 2024, Peru registered the highest fatality rate in South America and the third in the entire continent: 0.1167, just below Panama (0.1916) and Honduras (0.1411).

These days, with the party against, the Ministry of Health intends to straighten the curve with training and talks on how to identify and eradicate mosquito breeding sites.

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