Severe cases of dengue are discharged; The elderly are the most affected

Health and Environment Surveillance Minister at the Ministry of Health, Ethel Maciel, has warned of a rise in the number of serious dengue cases in the country – especially among the elderly with some type of comorbidity. This statement was made on Wednesday (28) during a meeting with the National Council of Health Secretaries (Conass) and the National Council of Municipal Health Secretaries (Conasems).

“This is the worst spike we've had in years,” Ethel said. “We need to think about differentiated entry of these elderly people into the health system. A gateway to initial diagnosis, and for patients who already have dengue and their condition has worsened, another type of care. They can't compete with everyone else to be evaluated,” he said. There is more Out of 7,700 cases are considered serious and have warning signs, according to ministry data.

According to the minister, despite the increase in serious cases, the country is recording a decline in deaths caused by dengue fever. The main serotypes circulating in Brazil at the moment, according to her, are 1 and 2, but there are records of types 3 and 4. Last year, the main serotype circulating was 2.

During the meeting, in Brasilia, the Minister noted that in 2023, the peak of dengue fever was recorded between the end of March and the beginning of April. In 2024, data in the volume show that the first two months have already exceeded the total number of cases recorded during the previous year's peak.

Since January 1, the Ministry of Health's Transmitted Viruses Monitoring Committee has recorded 991,000 possible cases of dengue fever and 195 confirmed deaths. There are 674 deaths still under investigation. The infection rate currently stands at 488 cases per group of 100,000 people.

Today Dr

Next Saturday (2), in partnership with states and municipalities, the Ministry of Health will hold a Victory Day to combat the disease. Under the slogan “Brazil United Against Dengue,” residents will be provided with guidance on precautions to prevent the spread of the disease, such as eliminating breeding sites for vector mosquitoes.

vaccination

In an interview on Tuesday (27), Health Minister Nicia Trindade explained that the dengue vaccine will continue to be made available to municipalities selected by the Ministry for the age group between 10 and 14 years. Vaccinations have already been distributed to ages 10 to 11 years.

According to her, the current vaccination situation in the country is not a response to the outbreak of the epidemic, especially since the dengue vaccine consists of two doses, with an interval of three months between them.

Takeda Laboratory, the manufacturer of the Codinga vaccine, will expand the production of doses through an agreement with the Indian biological laboratory, which will manufacture 50 million doses of the Codinga vaccine annually. Thus, the goal of providing 100 million doses can be reached by 2030.