By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

Pernambuco State Health Department (SES-PE) is reporting a significant increase in the number chikungunya cases during the first seven months of 2021.

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As of July 30, 9,378 chikungunya cases have been confirmed, compared to 1,648 confirmed cases in 2020, a 469 percent increase.

Health officials have also reported 6,926 cases of dengue and 10 for Zika virus, both lower than 2020 numbers.

The Government of Pernambuco draws attention to the increase in cases and alerts to the importance of epidemiological surveillance in the municipalities. “The current epidemiological scenario is identified by the wide spread of mosquito populations in the most diverse territories and raises an alert for case notifications and combat actions. These epidemic diseases usually present themselves differently in these places, since at each period endemic situations of the three agents can be identified in consecutive years”, warns the Arbovirus Surveillance manager, Claudenice Pontes.

The manager also highlights that the context of the new coronavirus pandemic was a factor that made it difficult for municipalities to continue carrying out their surveillance actions, which need to be optimized, especially in this period of high numbers. SES-PE continues to carry out analyzes of notifications of suspected cases of arboviruses and provide appropriate technical support to managers. And it is from this monitoring that it is possible to know the epidemiological reality of the disease and act with prevention and combat strategies.