Ricardo Arduengo / REUTERS
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned on Thursday that Latin America and the Caribbean should expect the worst dengue season on record as the epidemic is fueled by global warming and the El Niño climate phenomenon. In less than three months of 2024, health authorities in the region have already recorded more than 3.5 million cases and a thousand deaths due to the virus, which is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito.
“This is concerning as there are three times as many cases recorded as on the same date in 2023, a record year with more than 4.5 million cases.”– Jarbas Barbosa, director of PAHO, the regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO), emphasized at a press conference. 2024 will be “This is probably the worst dengue season ever recorded in America.”he added.
Dengue is a viral disease that causes high fever, which in rare cases develops into a more serious form that causes bleeding. Fatalities are very rare – about 0.01% of all cases. Widespread in hot countries, the virus is found mainly in urban and suburban areas and causes between 100 and 400 million infections a year, according to WHO. Infections are rising in all Latin American and Caribbean countries, but especially in three Southern Cone countries: Brazil (81%), followed by Paraguay (6%) and Argentina (3.4%). which account for 92% of all cases and 87% of deaths.
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