NewsDesk @bactiman63

Through the end of April this year, the Brazil Ministry of Health reports a 30% increase in the number of probable cases of dengue compared to the same period of 2022 throughout Brazil. Occurrences went from 690,800 cases last year to 899,500 this year, with 333 confirmed deaths. Factors such as climate variation and increased rainfall in the period across the country, the large number of people susceptible to diseases and the change in the circulation of virus serotypes are factors that may have contributed to this growth. The states with the highest incidence of dengue are: Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Acre and Rondônia.

Aedes aegypti/CDC

Concerning chikungunya, in the same period, 86.9 thousand cases of the disease were notified, with an incidence rate of 40.7 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants in the country. When compared to the same period in 2022, there was an increase of 40%. This year, there were 19 confirmed deaths. The highest incidences of the disease are in Tocantins, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and Mato Grosso do Sul.

Regarding Zika data, by the end of April, 6,200 cases of the disease were reported, with an incidence rate of 3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the country. There was an increase of 289% when compared to the same period in 2022, when 1,600 occurrences of the disease were reported. So far, there have been no deaths from Zika.

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Faced with the increase in cases of dengue, chikungunya and Zika, the Ministry of Health launched a national campaign to combat arboviruses. With the message “Brazil united against dengue, Zika and chikungunya”, the mobilization warns about the signs and symptoms of the diseases, in addition to ways of preventing and controlling the Aedes Aegypti mosquito. The campaign began Thursday on open and segmented TV, radio, internet, sound cars and in places with large circulation of people in all regions of the country.

The alert through the campaign is complementary to the reinforcement measures that have been adopted by the Ministry of Health for the prevention and control of diseases, as well as to guarantee assistance to the population. “The idea of ​​the communication campaign is to warn that the faster you identify the signs and symptoms and seek the health service, the faster we will have the diagnosis and we will be able to have an adequate outcome of reducing deaths”, reinforced the Secretary of Surveillance in Health and Environment, Ethel Maciel.

The secretary of the Ministry of Health explained that scientific studies are being used to understand that the problems are not the same, therefore, the solutions need to be different, with new technologies. “This topic seems forgotten, something that no one is talking about, especially after a pandemic, where people are tired of worrying about so many health risks, but we need to remember that, unfortunately, we have these three diseases that are leading to death in Brazil. Our actions are being thought out and directed, ”she added.