Rio declares dengue emergency as Brazil gears up for carnival

sao paulo, brazil
CNN
—

Rio de Janeiro has declared a public health emergency due to the outbreak. Dengue fever,a few days ago carnival celebration It will be held all over Brazil.

The city's mayor, Eduardo Paes, announced the measure on Monday in an effort to stop the spread of the mosquito-borne disease, which causes flu-like symptoms and can be fatal, according to CNN affiliate CNN Brasil. did.

Rapid increase Dengue fever The rise in infections has increased the urgency of planned nationwide vaccinations and also comes as Rio prepares for the world-famous Carnival, which officially begins on Friday. Pre-Lent festivals are held across Brazil, with colorful parades and block parties in Rio, known as one of the world's biggest parties, drawing millions of revelers to the streets.

Rio has already registered more than 11,200 dengue cases this year, and about 23,000 in all of 2023, according to the city council's Epidemiology Monitoring Committee.

In Rio, 362 people were hospitalized with dengue fever in January alone, surpassing the previous record set in 2008, CNN Brazil reported.

Rio's health secretary, Daniel Sollanz, said last Friday: “In one month of 2024, we have already seen almost half as many infections as in the whole of the previous year, which is a cause for great concern.”

To contain the further spread of the virus, the city announced it would open 10 care centers across Rio, and the Ministry of Health set up an emergency center to coordinate operations, Reuters reported.

According to Reuters, Rio state is one of three states that have declared a public health emergency due to rising dengue cases, including the second most populous state of Minas Gerais and the capital. It also includes the Federal District where Brasilia is located.

Nearly 365,000 dengue cases were reported across the country in the first five weeks of this year, four times more than in the same period last year, Reuters reported, citing the Ministry of Health. According to reports, the ministry announced that 40 people were confirmed dead.

“Due to a significant increase in dengue cases, several Brazilian cities are facing a state of emergency,” Brazil's Health Minister Nicia Trindade said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Record heat and above-average rainfall since last year have led to an increase in mosquito-borne outbreaks… Now is the time to step up care and prevention. Now is the time for all of Brazil to come together to fight dengue fever It’s time.”

Dengue fever is viral infection is contagious It is transmitted through the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same insect that causes the spread of Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever.

It causes stabbing headaches, muscle and joint pain, fever, and a rash, but only 25% of infected people develop symptoms. In extreme cases, it can cause bleeding, shock, organ failure, and even death.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dengue fever is the most common mosquito-borne virus, infecting millions of people around the world each year.

Although there is no specific treatment for the disease, Brazil plans to roll out a mass vaccination campaign against dengue fever.

Brazil approved the vaccine in March 2023, making it the first country to offer dengue vaccine in its public health system, according to the Ministry of Health.

The ministry's plan is to vaccinate 3.2 million children aged 10 to 14 with Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda Pharmaceutical's Kudenga vaccine in 2024.

“Due to the limited number of vaccine doses produced by manufacturing laboratories, vaccination will be carried out in stages,” Nithya said in a statement. “At the same time, the Ministry of Health will coordinate national efforts to scale up production and access to dengue vaccines.”

Brasilia plans to start vaccinations as early as Friday, Reuters reported.

Rio's health department also plans to vaccinate children once doses are announced by the Ministry of Health, CNN Brazil reported.

Clinical trials have shown that this vaccine reduces the risk of severe dengue fever requiring hospitalization by 80-90%. according to An article published in The Lancet last month.

Lecture in Brasilia On Wednesday, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the current outbreak of dengue fever in Brazil is “accelerated by the El Niño phenomenon.” El Niño is a natural climate pattern that occurs in the Pacific Ocean and influences weather around the world. The current El Niño phenomenon is Become one of the strongest in historyaccording to new data from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.

“In fact, this dengue outbreak is part of a global dengue surge, with more than 5 million cases and 5,000 deaths reported last year from 80 countries in every region of the world except the European region. “There are,” Tedros said.

According to WHO data, almost 3 million of the 5 million infections reported worldwide were in Brazil.

Number of dengue infections worldwide Increased According to the WHO, over the past 20 years, eight times more driven by Temperatures are rising and the rainy season begins.

as caused by humans climate crisis worsensmosquito-borne diseases are likely to spread further and have an increasing impact on human health.

This story has been updated with additional developments. Additional reporting by Reuters.