Dengue Cases Grow 339 Percent in Brazil in 2019; Almost a Thousand Cities are at Risk of an Outbreak

By Xiu Ying, Contributing Contributor

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Ministry of Health released on Tuesday (30th ) new data on dengue, zika, and chikungunya.

As of April 13th, 2019, 451,685 probable cases of dengue were registered in Brazil, an increase of 339.9 percent over the same period last year. In the same period of 2018, the recorded cases reached 102,681, says G1 in its latest report.

Rodrigo Said, General Coordinator of National Programs for the Control and Prevention of Malaria and Diseases Transmitted by Aedes, informed during a press conference that “65 percent of registered cases are in the Southeast region, mainly in the regions of São Paulo and Minas Gerais.”

Said warns that numbers point to an epidemic, but calls for caution: “When we look at these states, we know that some are very large so not every area will suffer an epidemic.”

Health Surveillance Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Wanderson Kleber, said that the country is not experiencing a generalized epidemic of the disease: “Even with the increase in the number of cases, the incidence rate in 2019 is within expectations for the period. So far, the country is not in a situation of epidemic, although there may be localized epidemics in some municipalities and states.”

(Source: G1)