Brazil dengue: Total cases top 2.6 million, deaths near 1000
Downward trend reported in several states, Vaccination could take up to 8 years to reduce transmission
The Brazil Ministry of Health reports the total probable dengue cases has topped 2.6 million cases since the beginning of the year.
Since Jan. 1, the number of probable cases of the disease reached 2,624,300, including 991 deaths. Another 1,483 deaths are under investigation.
Good news is eight Brazilian federative units are already showing a consolidated downward trend in the number of dengue cases: Acre, Amazonas, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Minas Gerais, Piauí, Roraima and the Federal District.
“The states that are experiencing a decline are where the epidemic began. For these, we can say that the worst is over”, said the Secretary of Health and Environmental Surveillance at the Ministry of Health, Ethel Maciel, at a press conference.
Another seven states still show an increasing trend: Alagoas, Bahia, Maranhão, Mato Grosso do Sul, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte and Sergipe. The other 12 states are stabile with their cases.
Despite this news, the Ministry of Health says that it is necessary to continue vigilance against the disease.
The vaccine
The Ministry of Health says that 1,235,119 doses of dengue vaccines have already been distributed to the states. Through March 25, the municipalities registered the administration of 663,338, which represents 53.71% of the doses sent. “This does not mean that the doses have not been applied, the data may not have yet been sent”, explained the director of the Department of the National Immunization Program, Eder Gatti.
In other vaccine news, the director general of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Jarbas Barbosa, said this March 28 that the vaccination strategy to combat dengue fever could take up to eight years to effectively reduce the transmission of the disease amid epidemics like the one currently faced in the Americas.
“It is important to highlight that the vaccine that is available is a two-dose vaccine and that it requires three months between one dose and another. In other words, the vaccine is not a tool to control transmission at this time”, he detailed. “The greatest tool for controlling dengue transmission continues to be the elimination of mosquito breeding sites.”
