Cases of dengue fever in Brazil have surpassed 5 million according to media reports, an unprecedented outbreak that exceeds the government’s most pessimistic predictions by nearly a million cases.
Data released at the start of this week puts the total number of probable cases of dengue at 5,100,766. While many do not experience symptoms and those who do generally recover within a week, the mosquito-borne illness can lead to hospitalisation and death. Dengue is the confirmed cause of more than 2,800 deaths in Brazil so far this year.
As factors behind the severity of the outbreak, medical authorities point to the evolution of mosquitos carrying the disease, circulation of multiple variants of dengue, limited natural immunity among Brazilians, and climate change, which has fuelled multiple catastrophes in Brazil this year alone.
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While the spread of the dengue has slowed in recent weeks, the circulation of the virus remains at worrying levels. Health surveillance secretary Ethel Maciel stressed at a Tuesday press conference that although “we no longer have [explosive] growth, we still remain on alert.”
With deaths in the first few months of the year already nearly three times as high as the 1,094 fatalities recorded in 2023, health authorities are understandably cautious.
Even the country’s public vaccination campaign, the first of its kind in the world, is unlikely to stem the tide. Experts point to challenges in vaccine availability, rollout and adherence to the two-dose requirement, as well as factors that drive the spread of mosquitoes, including inadequate sanitation, rising temperatures and frequent rains.
