Brazil sees 53% increase in dengue cases and former health minister issues warning

Brazil has registered an increase in the number of dengue cases in 2023. According to the Ministry of Health, the number of cases increased by 53% between January and March compared to the same period last year.

There are already about 400,000 cases investigated in the Brazilian territory, according to the Ministry.

In addition, 117 deaths have already been registered.

To talk about this high, Jovem Pan News’ Jornal da Manhã interviewed the former São Paulo State Health Secretary, Dr. Jean Gorinchteyn, who explained the reasons for the proliferation of the transmission agent, the Aedes aegypti mosquito and gave prevention guidelines.

“People need to remember something extremely important: 90% of dengue outbreaks occur in houses.”

“The dengue mosquitoes have acquired absolutely urban habits, with daytime flights. And with this, they end up inside the houses, favoring their multiplication.”

“Commonly, we tell people to look at the water tanks and gutters of the houses frequently and to avoid the accumulation of water in gardens, but this should be done every week”.

“At the same time, we have to give some guidelines, especially for people who live in municipalities with a very high number of cases.”

“In addition to these observations, which everyone does themselves, you should use repellents if possible and put on light-colored clothing. This mosquito has what we call photophobia: if there is a lot of light, it is repelled.”

“So, light-colored clothes also help and support in repelling mosquitoes. The use of repellent tablets at home also helps a lot. It ends up creating a hostile environment for the mosquitoes to enter”, he explained.

The infectious disease specialist reminded us that the period between the end of spring and the beginning of fall favors the proliferation of mosquitoes and highlighted data about the increase of the disease in Brazil.

“Throughout the country, we had a 162% increase in the number of cases from 2021 to 2022.”

To have an idea besides the number of cases, Brazil counted more than a thousand deaths from the disease [in 2022], showing that not only do we have a large number of compromised patients, but also the severity of the disease has become more present, which makes the attention should and deserves to be redoubled.

In the city of São Paulo alone, we had a 47% increase in the number of cases if we compare it to the same period in January, February, and March last year.

Hot and rainy periods allow a greater proliferation of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, especially the Aedes aegypti females, which end up propositioning, laying eggs that quickly, within a week, turn into mosquitoes.