Deaths from dengue fever in Brazil past 500 this year

Brazil recorded 504 deaths from dengue fever from January 1 to June 4. The amount is nearly twice the deaths observed the entire year before, a report from the Ministry of Health says.

The state of São Paulo ranks first, with 180 fatalities. Next come Santa Catarina (60), Rio Grande do Sul (49), Goiás (44), and Paraná (43). Deaths whose cause is still being ascertained number 364.

This year alone, 1.1 million likely cases of dengue have been recorded throughout the country—a rate of 517.9 cases for every 100 thousand people. The mark reached in just six months already represents over twice the number of cases seen in the whole of 2021 (544,460).

The Brazilian Central–West region has the highest incidence rate—1,544.2 cases for every 100 thousand people, higher than the national average. The region is also home to the cities with the highest number of infected people: Brasília, with 51,131 cases; and Goiânia, 41,637.

Chikungunya and Zika

From January to June, Brazil registered 108,730 likely cases of chikungunya, up 95.7 percent from the same period in 2021. Thus far, 19 deaths over chikungunya have been confirmed, 14 of which in the state of Ceará. Another 40 deaths are under investigation.

As for the Zika virus, the document says that 5,699 cases of the disease have been recorded, up 118.9 percent from the same period last year. No deaths from Zika have been reported in the country this year.

Symptoms

Dengue, Zika, and chikungunya are all transmitted by the same mosquito, and symptoms are similar. In general, these illnesses may cause fever, headache, and red spots on the body. The detection of a few symptoms, however, may prove handy in telling them apart. In the case of dengue, patients may experience pain behind the eyes. Chikungunya, on the other hand, can cause pain and swelling in the joints. Zika, in turn, may bring about low-grade fever and redness in the eyes.