Dengue outbreak in Argentina has caused dozens of deaths

• Dengue outbreak in Argentina raises alarms.
• So far the virus has caused dozens of deaths.
• Authorities explain how to prevent illness.

A dengue outbreak in Argentina has caused dozens of deaths due to a genotype of the virus that is circulating for the first time in that country. Authorities warn of what could happen in the coming days. They are implementing measures to prevent it from spreading to other countries, according to infobae.

Authorities from the National Ministry of Health announced that the current outbreak is being caused by the DENV-2 strain of the virus. So far in the region it had only been seen in Brazil and Peru, so sanitary work is already being done to prevent it from spreading further throughout the population.

DEATHS EXCEED LAST DENGUE OUTBREAK IN ARGENTINA

Currently, the country already has a record number of 39 deaths and approximately 41,257 cases from the virus transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. This epidemiological alert places 2023 as a record year for deaths from this virus in Argentina. In 2020 26 fatalities were reported.

They also confirmed that the cases so far, exceed the two previous years at 48.4% above those registered in 2020 and 27% above 2016.

WHERE IS THE VIRUS SPREADING?

According to infobae, 39 deaths from dengue have been reported through local health reports and provincial epidemiological bulletins. They come from nine jurisdictions: Buenos Aires province 1, Entre Ríos 1, Santiago del Estero 1, Ciudad from Buenos Aires 2, Córdoba 2, Jujuy 6, Santa Fe 7, Tucumán 9 and Salta 10.

The last National Epidemiological Bulletin (BEN) that circulated on Friday indicated the cases of the period between SE 31/2022 (August 31) to SE 14/2023 (April 9) of the 2022-2023 season and reported 27 deaths. However, the figure is outdated as the provincial health ministries report new cases of the infection.

WHAT DO AUTHORITIES RECOMMEND?

Health Minister Carla Vizzotti reported the importance of not accumulating water in containers to prevent the larvae of the disease-transmitting mosquito from developing. She stressed that this task is almost more important than fumigation. “When we spray, we kill the adult mosquito, but not the larvae,” she explained.

The Ministry of Health has reinforced their information campaign to prevent the disease, which has flu-like symptoms, such as muscle pain and fever. The ministry reported that it carries out technical training and training in entomological surveillance with the different municipalities to eliminate potential breeding sites and distributes reagents and molecular techniques for diagnosis and also insecticides to eliminate larvae.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN?

The Minister of Health noted that every three or four years in Argentina there are outbreaks with a high number of cases and «each one is greater than the previous one.» Until now, this «strain» did not circulate in Argentina, but in Brazil and Peru. «Its clinical and epidemiological impact is still being investigated,» they added from the portfolio led by Carla Vizzotti.

They also pointed out to this media that, «The introduction of a new genotype of chikungunya in the country was also detected.» It is the ECSA genotype of the virus, which is predominant in Brazil and Paraguay and, «Its epidemiological incidence is still being investigated.» Given these data, «The health portfolio has issued an epidemiological alert for health teams throughout the country.» At the same time, they highlighted that, «The clinical and epidemiological impact of all these identifications is still under evaluation.»