Is Brazil threatened by a new large-scale epidemic? The Latin American giant has barely recovered from the Covid-19 massacre (which killed 709,000 people here) and today faces the accelerated spread of another devastating virus, this time widely known: dengue fever. The explosive increase in the number of infections in the last few weeks is so great that experts are already talking about a crisis “historical” even “unprecedented”.
Since the beginning of 2024, the Ministry of Health has counted more than 408,000 cases of this mosquito-borne viral disease. Aedes aegyptiwhich causes pain and severe fever, which is 337% more than in the same period in 2023. So far, 62 people have already officially died as a result of an infection related to the virus, but 279 other so-called “deaths” have also been suspiciously authenticated.
More than half of the cities are affected and four states have declared a public health emergency. The situation is particularly serious in Minas Gerais (southeast), Acre (Amazon), Parana (south) and especially in the federal district of Brasilia. In the capital, the incidence rate is 1,700 dengue fever cases per 100,000 inhabitants, well above the alarm threshold of 300 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
“Heat and Humidity”
As worrying as it is, the epidemic is only in its infancy. According to the Health Ministry, Brazil could face a wave of 4.2 to 5 million dengue cases in 2024: an unheard-of situation in a country long accustomed to tropical diseases. For comparison: the worst year in this regard was 2015. At that time, 1.6 million Brazilians were infected with dengue fever, three times fewer than forecast for 2024.
A slight wind of panic has been blowing across Brazil for several days. According to the Nutriex group, which specializes in this type of product, sales of mosquito repellent sprays have exploded by 400%. In Brasilia, hospitals are struggling to cope with the influx of tens of thousands of feverish patients. To relieve pressure on the sector, the Air Force opened a field hospital on February 5 in Ceilandia, one of the capital’s “satellite cities.” More than 3,500 patients were admitted in just three days.
“We find a combination of factors at the origin of this epidemic”Details Edilson Luiz Durigon, virologist at the Pasteur Institute in Sao Paulo. The first of these is climatic: “The El Niño phenomenon caused drought and high temperatures in 2023, followed by heavy rainfall. Heat and humidity: This is the ideal cocktail for mosquito reproduction.”emphasizes the researcher.
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