The epidemic doesn’t stop Dengue in Brazil. According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health, 391 deaths have been confirmed caused this year by the infection carried by mosquitoes, while investigations are underway on another 854 deaths. At a national level, the suspected cases reported now exceed one and a half million (1,583,183), of which 12,652 are serious. The incidence rate of Dengue in Brazil is 757.5 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants. A health emergency has been declared in 9 states of the South American country. According to official data, congenital infection syndrome for the Zika virus also raised its head again in 2023, with 1,035 cases, the highest figure since 2019. In February, Peru declared an emergency and several cases have also been reported in Argentina.
The measures in Italy – As regards Italy, in recent days, one month after the first circular which raised thealert in ports e airportsone has been announced second circular from the Ministry of Health by the Prevention Directorate. The goal is one tightening on controls by Usmaf-Sasn personnel, the Maritime, Air and Border Health Offices, to intensify the mosquito hunting (Aedes aegypti) and avoid that Dengue fever circulates intensely in Italy.
Particular attention must be paid to disinfections of aircraft and ships, even those from cruise. Among the many hypotheses, we are also working on the experimentation of a quick test at the airport for those arriving from risk areas. Dengue fever, or simply “Dengue,” is one tropical infectious disease, transmitted to humans by mosquito bites. Dengue, in general, has gods flu-like symptoms but sometimes it can manifest itself in a severe form, called hemorrhagic Dengue, which can be fatal.
The disease and the Italian cases – From viralthe disease is caused by the dengue virus which belongs to the Arbovirus group, i.e transmitted to humans by insects. It is a non-contagious infectious disease because, even if humans are the main host, there is no direct contagion between humans, but transmission from person to person is only possible through insect (arthropod) vectors. The virus circulates in the blood of the infected person for 2-7 days and is then collected and transmitted to other individuals via mosquito bite. The increase in preventive measures goes by hand in hand with the infections, in fact in 2023 362 cases were recorded in Italy, eighty-two of which were indigenous. “In 2024, 48 confirmed cases of Dengue have been identified in the national territory, as of 21 February 2024, all imported. In light of the illustrated overview, I can only reiterate that the situation in Italy today is not alarming“, the Minister of Health said Orazio Schillaci last February 22nd in the Senate during a question on the topic of Dengue.