Increase in Number of Dengue Cases in Brazil in Last 8 Months

The number of cases of mosquito-borne diseases like dengue, zika and chikungunya that are transmitted by the mosquitoe Aedes aegypti, have increased in Brazil this year.

In all, the three viruses have caused 650 deaths in Brazil as of December 30,2018 and August 24, 2019, reported Folha De S.Paulo. According to the report, the Southern region of Brazil had the highest percentage increase in new cases of the three diseases.

The report further stated that dengue cases have increased the most, with a jump of 599.5 per cent over the same period in 2018. As of August 24, there have been 1,439,471 cases diagnosed in Brazil.

This basically translates as 690.4 confirmed cases of dengue per 100,000 population and 591 deaths as of now. The Ministry of Health recorded 205,791 cases throughout 2018.

Notably, Sao paulo has seen the sharpest increase in the cases, with 37 times higher cases being registered than in previous years, jumping from 11,475 to 437,047 cases.

Apart from Paulo, there was a 3,563 percent jump Paraná, Folha De S.Paulo reported.

The increase in the number of dengue cases in Brazil has occurred after two years of decrease in 2017 and 2018. A Ministry of Health survey in May this year found that at least 965 cities in the country had an incidence rate above 300 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

Notably, according to the World Health organization (WHO), Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection causing a severe flu-like illness and, sometimes causing a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue.

The incidence of dengue has increased 30-fold over the last 50 years. Up to 50-100 million infections are now estimated to occur annually in over 100 endemic countries, putting almost half of the world’s population at risk.

According to the report, one of the possible reasons for the significant increase in cases in the circulation of the mosquito-borne virus' subtype -- subtype 2 -- that has had a low predominance in the laste decade.

According to the Health Ministry of Brazil, 84 percent of dengue cases by April 2019 were caused by this type.

Notably, the dengue virus (DEN) comprises four distinct serotypes (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4) which belong to the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae.