Rio de Janeiro reports 1st Oropouche fever case
Rio de Janeiro reports 1st Oropouche fever case
Authorities consider this to be an imported case
Officials with the State Department of Health (SES-RJ) report a 42-year-old man, resident of the south zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, had a confirmed diagnosis of oropouche fever.
This is the first occurrence of the disease recorded in Rio de Janeiro. However, the department considers this to be an imported case, as the patient has a history of traveling to Amazonas.
The patient did not need to be hospitalized and his clinical condition was progressing well.
Oropouche fever is a disease caused by an arbovirus. There is no specific treatment, but the patient must remain at rest and receive medical supervision. Common analgesics and antipyretics may be prescribed to alleviate symptoms, which are very similar to those of dengue. They generally last between two and seven days and include fever, headache, back and joint pain, and dizziness, pain behind the eyes, rashes, nausea and vomiting may also occur. In some cases, encephalitis also occurs.
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Transmission, however, does not occur through the bite of Aedes aegypti but rather from other mosquitoes, especially Culicoides paraensis. They proliferate mainly during periods of heat in humid environments, such as in areas close to mangroves, lakes, swamps and rivers. But they are not restricted to rural areas, being present in urban spaces with availability of water and organic matter, especially close to vegetable gardens, gardens and trees. Furthermore, Culex quinquefasciatus , one of the species popularly called mosquito, can also act as a vector.
In Brazil, outbreaks of the disease have been recorded in the Amazon region since the 1970s. In the state of Amazonas, where the disease has been more prevalent in recent years, the increase in transmission in the first two months of 2024 generated an epidemiological alert. There are now 1,674 cases with laboratory confirmation, according to the latest epidemiological bulletin, released by the State Department of Health of Amazonas (SES-AM) this Thursday (Feb. 29). This is already more than the total recorded last year, when the department recorded 995 occurrences. According to SES-AM, testing has been carried out on symptomatic patients who have tested negative for dengue.
