São Paulo Experiences Spike in Number of Confirmed Dengue Cases

02/11/2016 - 10h51

The year 2016 began with a spike in the number of confirmed cased of Dengue in the city of São Paulo.

During the first three weeks, almost 30 new people were diagnosed with the illness per day in the Paulista capital, an increase of 40 percent when compared to the same period in 2015, when Dengue had already broken all records.

	Danilo Verpa/Folhapress
	Historically, the illness only reaches its peak near April, and not during summer.

The data collected by the city only refers to the 528 incidents confirmed through tests -not accounting for notices about suspected cases, which experienced an even higher increase, partly attributed to the state of alertness of the population that seeks hospitals.

The advance of Dengue is seen as a yellow caution sign by the Fernando Haddad (Workers Party) administration since it demonstrates that there is also room for the expansion of the Zika and Chikungunya viruses -all of which are transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Another cause for concern is that, historically, the illness only reaches its peak near April, and not during summer.

The Haddad administration had already anticipated a difficult 2016 for Dengue, but estimated that, with some combat measures against the transmitter mosquito, it could try to maintain a stability compared to 2015.

In an attempt to control the spread of the three illnesses, the government says it is looking at the hubs of the transmitter mosquito in areas with the highest incidence.

When someone is identified with symptoms of Dengue, Zika or Chikungunya, a search for mosquito breeding is conducted within a radius of 200 meters from the person's home. Subsequently, if it is confirmed that the patient has one of the viruses, an aerosol mist is utilized to combat the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Translated by SUGHEY RAMIREZ

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