Dengue: for PAHO, the epidemic risk in the region is high

[Inkriql]

With more than two million cases of dengue reported so far this year, the Pan American Health Organization warned the health authorities in the region about "a new epidemic cycle of the disease, after two years of low incidence." Children under 15 are among the most affected.

It is that the 2,029,342 infections, including 723 deaths, reported by Latin American countries until the last week of last month exceed the total notified between 2017 and 2018, without even reaching the figure of the last epidemic in 2015-2016. Brazil, Colombia, Honduras and Nicaragua are the four countries that are having the highest incidence of the disease.

In Argentina, up to 2255 last month, 2555 indigenous cases (without a travel record) were confirmed in Buenos Aires, Chaco, Formosa, Jujuy, Misiones, Salta, Santa Fe and the city of Buenos Aires. And there were another 160 "imported", because they traveled to some area with viral circulation in the country or abroad.

But beyond the number of cases, what draws attention to PAHO epidemiologists and specialists in communicable diseases is that all four dengue virus serotypes are circulating simultaneously in the region, which increases the risk of severe dengue . That happens in Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico, while three serotypes are co-circulating in Colombia, Panama, Martinique, Venezuela, Paraguay and Peru.

"The region is going through a new epidemic period of dengue with a notable increase in cases," said Marcos Espinal, director of the Department of Communicable Diseases and Environmental Determinants of Health of PAHO. He attributed it to the climate, poor environmental management and the great adaptability of the Aedes aegypti vector mosquito.

Symptoms to be considered for quick consultation are high fever, severe abdominal pain or pain on palpation; persistent vomiting, fluid accumulation, bleeding of the mucous membranes, lethargy or irritability and lipotimia (hypotension), among others.

PAHO also advises that health authorities reinforce environmental management measures and involve the po[CENSORED]tion in the elimination of vector mosquito breeding sites in homes and public places, such as parks, schools, hospitals or cemeteries, where there are still objects that accumulate water suitable for the reproduction of A. aegypti. Other sites to take into account are where the usual collection of garbage has been interrupted or accumulated scrap, decks and other obsolete items.

It also insists on defining areas of high transmission risk. "The presence of the mosquito should be eliminated at least 400 meters in the round," says PAHO. It is important to pay attention to health centers, which should be free of the vector and its breeding sites so that they are not irradiating points of the virus ”.