During a departmental council for disaster risk management, Bolívar health authorities declared a hospital alert due to the considerable increase in dengue cases in the region.
According to official figures presented by the Bolívar Health Secretariat, it is confirmed that this area of the country registers, to date, 1,706 cases of dengue, of which there are 30 serious cases in various municipalities of the department and, especially, in its capital. Cartagena.
The authorities hope that with this decree the cases can be reduced, through actions framed within the hospital red alert declaration.
According to the local administration, the determination that was made aims to increase preventive actions to prevent dengue cases from continuing to increase and improve the care strategy for the people who are affected.
Faced with the complex health panorama, the Government called on the municipal mayors to simultaneously deploy actions in each population within the framework of this dengue outbreak control plan, carrying out a collective articulation of all campaigns and actions.
“That is why the Government, from its Ministry of Health and the Bolívar Disaster Risk Management Office, urge both municipal and district authorities to adopt the necessary measures to combat this disease and protect life,” he said. Acting Governor Sandra Schmalbach.
For his part, the Secretary of Health, Alberto Bernal, sent recommendations to the inhabitants of the region so that they take actions to prevent the spread of dengue: “The main recommendation to the community is to eradicate all the useless objects that they have in the patios of their houses and keep the water reservoirs completely closed because they are the places where the mosquito that transmits dengue reproduces”.
In addition, the secretary said that the community must have the guidelines for preparation and readiness for a possible second rainy season in 2023 with a probable incidence of El Niño conditions.
He also recommended that people who feel the symptoms go to the doctor in a timely manner so that they receive special attention and avoid complications.
Alert for dengue in Colombia: these are the most affected municipalities
The health authorities in the country raised alarms due to the increase in dengue cases that have been registered in recent weeks in the nation. In the most recent epidemiological bulletin of the National Institute of Health (INS) during the week of June 18 to 24, 2,760 cases of possible infections of the disease transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito were reported.
According to INS data, 70.9% of the cases registered nationwide come from Meta, with 9,437 confirmed cases; Tolima, with 5,020; Santander, with 2,905; Cali, with 2,331; Cundinamarca, with 2,309; Sucre, with 2,005; Cesar, with 1,964; Barranquilla, with 1,764; Antioquia, with 1,757; and Bolívar, with 1,740 cases.
Similarly, the health authority confirmed that in Bolívar, Casanare, Cesar, Guaviare, Magdalena, Nariño, Sucre, Valle del Cauca (and its capital, Cali) there was a 30% increase in cases.
The National Institute of Health reported that so far this year there have been 161 probable deaths in the country from dengue, a worrying figure if one takes into account that for this same period last year -2022- there had been 31 deaths from this sickness.
In alert zone are: Antioquia (Apartadó – Turbo); Atlantic (Barranquilla, Malambo and Soledad); Bolívar (Cartagena, Magangué and Turbaco); Caqueta (Florence); Cauca (Santander de Quilichao); Cesar (Valledupar and Aguachica); Cordoba (Montería and Sahagún); Cundinamarca (Girardot); Choco (Quibdo). with Infobae