Achi news desk-
San Juan Puerto Rico –
Dengue is surging across the Americas early this year from Puerto Rico to Brazil, with 3.5 million cases of the tropical disease reported so far, health officials said Thursday.
That count is three times more than the number of cases reported at this time last year, said Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, director of the Pan American Health Organization, the World Health Organization’s regional office in the Americas.
Last year, there were a record 4.5 million cases in the region, and PAHO officials said they expect this year to set a new record.
Dengue usually peaks during the wet season, which is still months away. And some areas are reporting dengue for the first time, officials said.
The dengue virus is spread to people when they are bitten by infected mosquitoes. Driving the surge are rising temperatures, rapid urbanization, droughts and floods linked to climate change, and poor sanitation and a lack of robust health systems in some countries, health officials say.
The virus can cause a headache, fever, vomiting, rash and other symptoms. Although most infected people do not have symptoms, severe cases can lead to death. There is no specific treatment other than pain medications.
Most of the current cases are in the Southern Hemisphere, with more than 80 percent in Brazil, followed by Paraguay, Argentina, Peru and Colombia. Around 1,000 deaths have been reported in the Americas so far this year.
In the Caribbean alone, more than 25,000 cases have been reported, with French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic most affected, said Dr. Rhonda Sealey-Thomas, assistant director of PAHO.
On Monday, the secretary of health of Puerto Rico announced an epidemic, with more than 540 cases, with at least 341 people in the hospital. The numbers are worrying because parts of the island are in a moderate drought at the moment, and the rainiest month isn’t until August.
The surge in cases forced Rio de Janeiro to declare a public health emergency last month ahead of Carnival. Peru did the same for most of its states, and others have followed suit.
There are four different dengue viruses circulating in the Americas, said Dr Sylvain Aldighieri of the PAHO. “We have to be ready for this.”
Some countries have released specially bred mosquitoes that contain bacteria called Wolbachia that fight dengue.
Last month, Josian Bruno, who lives in the capital of San Juan in Puerto Rico, developed a fever and body aches. A laboratory test confirmed that the 38-year-old had kidney failure due to severe dehydration. He spent six days in hospital, and the day after being released, his test results came back positive for dengue.
“When they tell you it’s kidney failure, that’s scary,” she said.
A month has passed, and Bruno still has difficulty moving his arms and walking, and has not been able to resume his runs three times a week.
Although a new dengue vaccine is available in limited supply, it requires two doses with an interval of three months. Barbosa said officials are monitoring how well it’s actually working. He said a one-shot vaccine won’t be available until next year.
