Brazil dengue fever update
Brazil dengue fever update
Latest numbers, ivermectin use advised against
The Brazil Ministry of Health reports a total of 392,724 probable cases of dengue in data published on Wednesday.
The ministry also confirmed 54 deaths from the disease in the country. Another 273 deaths are under investigation.
The explosion of dengue cases in several regions of the country caused at least four states – Acre, Minas Gerais and Goiás –, in addition to the Federal District, to declare a public health emergency. The municipality of Rio de Janeiro is also in an emergency situation.
With 135,716 probable cases, Minas Gerais is the state with the most diagnoses of dengue. This is followed by São Paulo (61,873), Distrito Federal (48,657), Paraná (44,200) and Rio de Janeiro (28,327).
In the analysis of the incidence rate per 100,000 population, the federal capital leads with 1,727.2 cases per 100 100,000 population. This is followed by Minas Gerais (660.8) and Acre (539.1).
Ivermectin is not effective against dengue
Officials in the state of Alagoas are advising the public that the antiparasitic agent, ivermectin, is not indicated in cases of dengue.
According to information from the Ministry of Health (MS), ivermectin is not effective in reducing the viral load of dengue. The federal agency emphasizes that it does not recognize any protocol that includes medicine for the treatment of the disease that is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
The State Department of Health (Sesau) also reinforces that the population must be aware of untrue information passed on over the Internet. If in doubt, contact official MS channels or qualified professionals, thus avoiding the spread of fake news.
You may recall that ivermectin became known nationally after supposedly being effective against Covid-19, proving to be ineffective after studies.