Honduras declares health emergency before the start of the peak dengue season

Honduras declared a national health emergency after registering an increase in hospitalizations and deaths from dengue, the Ministry of Health announced on May 31.

The Government gave instructions to the health authorities to take all measures necessary, including prevention and control actions and the search for funds to manage the outbreak.

The Honduran Ministry of Health reported 23,037 suspected cases of dengue in the first 20 weeks of the year. This is one of the highest totals in the Central America, according to data collected by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

In addition, 10 deaths have been reported.

“Honduras has entered the epidemic zone due to the increase in cases in all departments of the country, as well as the number of patient admissions in all hospitals in the country due to this disease,” the Honduran Ministry of Health said on Friday.

The entire region has already reported more than 8.65 million cases in the first five months of 2024, almost double the more than 4.5 million cases reported in all of 2023, which then was a record.

Dengue is a disease caused by a virus spread through mosquito bites. The disease can take up to 2 weeks to develop with illness generally lasting less than a week.

Health effects from dengue include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, rash, muscle and joint pain, and minor bleeding.

Dengue can become severe within a few hours. Severe dengue is a medical emergency, usually requiring hospitalization.

In severe cases, health effects can include hemorrhage (uncontrolled bleeding), shock (seriously low blood pressure), organ failure, and death.