NewsDesk @bactiman63

The Paraguay Ministry of Health reports cases of dengue and chikungunya are still being detected. This scenario is worrying, taking into account that the rainy season is approaching and to this is added the phenomenon of El Niño.

Image/Robert Herriman

Officials observe that the downward trend in terms of chikungunya continues, with a weekly average of about 40 cases per week in the last 3 weeks, dengue cases still remain at an average of 100 weekly cases. The high dispersion of the cases is also maintained, covering practically the entire national territory.

The head of Health Surveillance, Guillermo Sequera, stated that it is striking that at the end of July we still have cases of dengue and chikungunya. He expressed his concern about this scenario, considering that the rainy season is approaching -in October-, to this is added the phenomenon of El Niño, which could portend a complicated epidemiological scenario for the next season.

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“If we look at the dengue histories in the last ten to fifteen years, we see that by the month of July there were practically no cases registered,” said Sequera.

Given this phenomenon, the epidemiologist presumes that the cold temperatures recorded were not enough to interrupt the vector transmission of arboviral diseases. He said that in order to cut off the circulation of the virus, it is necessary to have at least two to three consecutive weeks of very low temperatures.

He recalled that, although it does not rain or it rains little, the Aedes is capable of laying its eggs in hatcheries and lasting a year waiting for the rainy season to start hatching. “As soon as it rains, from those eggs housed in hatcheries, the larvae begin to grow and the story begins again,” said the doctor.

He specified that the arbovirosis epidemics in the country usually begin in summer and culminate between the months of April to June and can even extend until the beginning of July. “It is true, the epidemic is declining, but there are still dozens of confirmed cases and we see the odd hospitalization,” he reported.

In the last three weeks, 124 cases of chikungunya were recorded: 101 in (EW) 27; 20 at (EW) 28; and 3 in (EW) 29 with partial data for the last few weeks. While 351 total dengue cases in this same period: 180 in (EW) 27; 136 at (EW) 28; and 35 at (EW) 29.