According to estimations from the Ministry of Health, Brazil may reach 5 million cases of dengue in 2024. The high index would be a result of a combination of factors, such as intense heat, increased volume of rain, and the reappearance of serum types 3 and 4 of the virus which causes the infection. Still according to the file, the number of deaths may also hit a record this year.
Nearly 56 thousand cases were registered in the first 15 days of 2024, an incidence of 27.5 diagnoses every 100 thousand people. In 2023, in the same period, 26,801 cases had been recorded, which represents an increase of 108%. The highest number of deaths caused by dengue was recorded in 2023, with 1,079 deaths confirmed until December.
The Ministry of Health warns on the possibility of the central-western region facing an epidemic scenario of dengue in 2024. On the southeast region, particularly Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, and south region, especially Paraná, there is a substantial risk of an epidemic.
Dengue vaccine will be available in SUS
A first batch of the vaccine arrived in Brazil last Saturday (20/1), with around 750 thousand doses. The batch is part of a total of 1.32 million doses supplied by Takeda pharmaceuticals, who runs a study in partnership with the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), coordinated by Julio Croda, Infectious Disease Specialist and researcher at Fiocruz. More doses of the vaccine will be transferred to the National Immunization Program (PNI) throughout 2024, totaling 5.2 million.
On the first year, the vaccines will be destined to municipalities with over 100 thousand people and high transmission rates in the past 10 years. The target public will be children and teenagers from 10 to 14 years old, age range with the highest number of hospitalizations by dengue, then the elderly, to whom the vaccine has not yet been cleared by the National Agency of Sanitary Surveillance (Anvisa). The vaccination scheme is comprised of two doses with an interval of three months.
Fighting and preventing the transmitter mosquito
In addition to the population eliminating the vectors of Aedes aegypti, with the assistance of the community and endemic-fighting authorities, the Ministry of Health will expand the Wolbachia method to the municipalities of Natal (RN), Uberlândia (MG), Presidente Prudente (SP), Londrina (PR), Foz do Iguaçu (PR) and Joinville (SC). The initiative is an additional control strategy for arboviruses.
Successfully implemented in Campo Grande (MS), Petrolina (PE), Belo Horizonte (MG), Niterói (RJ) and Rio de Janeiro (RJ), the method consists of releasing Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected by intracellular bacteria, genus Wolbachia, which only infect insects, and act by blocking the mosquito’s capacity of transmitting the dengue, Zika and chikungunya viruses. In Brazil, the program is coordinated by Luciano Moreira, researcher of Fiocruz Minas Gerais, with financial and administrative management by Fiotec.
* With information from the Ministry of Health and Metrópoles portal.
