The authorities in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro have declared a health emergency as they try to contain the spread of dengue fever.
The incidents of the mosquito-borne disease quadrupled in Brazil in January compared to the same month last year.Rio has registered 10,000 cases so far this year, compared to 23,000 for the whole of 2023.Dengue can cause a fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, and a blotchy rash.A dengue vaccine developed by the Japanese company Takeda was approved by Brazil’s health regulator last year, but has not yet been widely distributed.Eder Gatti of Brazil’s health ministry said the number of doses the public health service had received from the Japanese laboratory were limited. The government therefore plans to prioritise large municipalities with high dengue transmission rates.
Meanwhile, Rio city hall announced it would open 10 treatment centres for people with dengue.Daniel Soranz, the city’s health secretary, said the aim was to reduce the number of serious cases and deaths caused by the infection. “Early treatment makes all the difference,” he said.Health officials have also advised people to use repellent to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes.Nísia Trindade, Brazil’s Minister of Health, has urged people to check their homes and remove any standing water as this is where dengue-transmitting mosquitoes breed.Public health announcements will be made at the Sambadrome, where Rio’s renowned samba schools parade in front of judges to be crowned the winners of this year’s Carnival parade, while fumigants are spraying some of the worst affected areas.
Owing to the rise in dengue cases, Rio is not the only location where a health emergency has been declared. Over the past few weeks, the states of Minas Gerais, Acre, and Goiás as well as the federal district have already taken this action.Fabio Baccheretti, the health secretary of Minas Gerias, attributed the rapid spread of the viral infection that has been plaguing Brazil in recent months to high temperatures.”The record temperatures at the end of last year, with the El Niño phenomenon, are a new and determining factor,” he told the AFP news agency.The issue is also not exclusive to Brazil. Dengue cases have increased in Argentina as well.
