The World Health Organization has warned of an increase in dengue cases due to climate change and globalization, among other reasons, since January and April 2024, with 7.9 million cases and 4,000 deaths reported in 79 countries, a much higher number. Compared to 2023, when 6.6 million cases were detected throughout the year.
The data, which was presented on Thursday at the webinar titled “Dengue: Epidemiological situation and response,” was obtained after analyzing 161 countries included in the surveillance system, of which 82 countries did not report cases in 2024.
“As of April 2024, there are more cases of dengue fever than in the whole of 2023, and, moreover, we know that the real numbers are around nine million, although we must take into account the mortality rate, which has decreased slightly, but This “has no effect, and it does not mean that there are fewer cases,” announced the epidemiologist at the Acute Events Analysis Unit at WHE, Martina McMenamin.
Thus, McMenamin pointed out that America and Asia are the regions where there are a higher number of cases, and that in addition “it must be taken into account that in some regions the peak of cases has not yet been seen so cases may increase.” .
He added: “In terms of the highest cases of infection in countries so far, we have Brazil, which ranks third in terms of cases of infection, although it recorded more than 6.2 million cases until the end of April, and we have many other regions in America and France.” Guyana, Paraguay and many other countries are recording very high infection rates, McMenamin explained, while also taking into account that many of them have very small populations.
In this regard, the epidemiologist noted, “In the Americas, it is good to take into account that dengue is an endemic disease and that in 2024 there was the largest transmission in the region.”
“The numbers are not only rising because of what is happening in Brazil, but because there are also other countries in the region that have many cases such as Argentina, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, what is happening is not only happening in Brazil, and it is happening in many countries,” he noted. the countries.
Regarding the situation that Brazil faces with regard to dengue fever, the head of arbovirus surveillance at the Brazilian Ministry of Health, Livia Carla Vinhal, confirmed that although they monitored several epidemics, “dengue fever was the most important epidemic, especially during the year.” 2024, where unprecedented levels in history will be reached.”
“In 2024 we have almost six million cases and 3,600 confirmed deaths. The increase is very high compared to 2023,” Fenhall said. According to Raman Velayudhan, head of the WHO’s Vector and Tropical Disease Unit, the increase in dengue cases is due to various factors such as climate change, which “encourages mosquito breeding.”
He pointed out that “high temperature helps mosquitoes reproduce, and in addition, the virus multiplies inside the mosquito’s body. All of this helped spread the disease.”
“The second point is the change in the distribution of the Aedes mosquito as a vector and it is now present in more than 150 countries and this is not being followed up properly because we did not know that this existed. Let’s say,” he remained silent and said, “The mosquitoes have spread and there are many places where temperatures have become Now it is favorable for mosquitoes and it is spreading into countries that did not have this presence before, including Europe, where people move more and bring diseases with them.” Velayudhan, on the other hand, warned of “the problem of other arboviruses” as “there are countries that have chikungunya, Zika and others.” “And if all these arboviruses are thought to be dengue cases, they are reported as dengue, so the number of cases is increasing.”
In this context, the Director of the Epidemic Preparedness Unit, Dr. Maria Van Kerhove, pointed out that dengue fever “is present everywhere” because in 2023 cases have been reported “in all regions of the World Health Organization, that is, in all parts of the world.”
He stressed: “This year we have a major outbreak of dengue and chikungunya fever in South America, and the entire American continent has spread towards the sweating country.” That is why, in December 2023, the World Health Organization declared dengue a level 3 emergency because “cooperation is required from all sectors, from all levels of government and society, and this is exactly what the One Health Approach means.”
“In December, a multi-region dengue outbreak was detected and classified at level 3. In fact, the multi-country dengue outbreak is our highest level and requires a WHO response to control these outbreaks. This is the first time Our Dengue Level 3 Incident Manager for the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, Awa Ndere, explained, “The picture of dengue around the world.”
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