Dengue cases near 3 million in the Americas in first half of 2023

July 19, 2023

Headlines, Latin America and the Caribbean

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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), during the first half of 2023, dengue outbreaks of significant magnitude were recorded in South America. Between epidemiological week (EW) 1 and EW 26 of 2023 (week ending on 01 July), a total of 2,997,097 cases of dengue were reported in the Region of the Americas, including 1302 deaths with a CFR of 0.04%, with a cumulative incidence rate of 305 cases per 100,000 population.

This has surpassed the 2.8 million cases of dengue registered for the entire year of 2022 in the region, the third highest year on record.

In 2019, the highest number of historical dengue cases was registered, with more than 3.1 million cases for the Region of the Americas, including 28,203 severe cases and 1823 deaths.

Brazil tops countries with the most cases (2,376,522), followed by Peru and Bolivia with case counts well above 100,000.

Mosquito repellents

All four dengue virus serotypes (DENV1, DENV2, DENV3, and DENV4) are present in the Region of the Americas. In 2023, up to EW 26 (ending on 1 July), simultaneous circulation of all four serotypes has been detected in Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Venezuela; while in Argentina, Panama, Peru, and Puerto Rico, DENV1, DENV2 and DENV3 serotypes circulate, and in Nicaragua the serotypes DENV1, DENV3 and DENV4.

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Dengue is the arbovirus that causes the highest number of cases in the Region of the Americas, with epidemics occurring cyclically every 3 to 5 years.