Over 224 thousand dengue cases reported this year

According to Brazil's Health Ministry, 224.1 thousand cases of dengue fever have been ed all across the country this year—a rise of 162% from the first two months of 2014.

Health Minister Arthur Chioro argues that, despite this considerable increase, the current situation must not be compared to the 2013 epidemic, when 425.1 thousand reports were made. In his view, the weather and the water crisis have played a significant role in the country's dengue scenario, since storing water has become an increasingly common habit in the southeast, south and north regions.

In spite of the surge in the amount of cases, the amount of deaths plunged 32%, going from 76 in 2014 to 52 this year. The number of severe cases fell 9.7%. In 2015, 102 cases of the disease were identified, against last year's 113. The 31.5% reduction in fatalities is still not enough, and strengthening measures against the disease is crucial, Chioro noted.

The northern state of Acre shows the highest number of cases—695.4 for every 100 thousand inhabitants, followed by Goiás, with 401, and São Paulo, with 281.

Autochthonous cases (sick people with no traveling record) of chikungunya, an illness also transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti, totaled 1,049 up to March 7, 459 of which in the state of Bahia, and 590 in Amapá. Last year, 2,773 autochthonous cases of the sickness were confirmed. From 2014 to 2015, the Ministry identified 100 cases brought over from abroad, by people who traveled to countries such as the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Venezuela.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira