There are already more than 3,000 cases of dengue in the province of Buenos Aires, as reported by the health authorities, and its proliferation sets off alarms. With great concern, the experts warned that prevention measures must be maintained despite the arrival of the cold and it is that the mosquito that transmits the disease – the aedes aegypti – is capable of surviving even in low temperatures.
“More than 3,000 cases are being registered in the province,” said the Buenos Aires Vice Minister of Health, Alexia Navarro, to account for the seriousness of the situation. The official’s data is updated with respect to the latest epidemiological bulletin, which speaks of 2,510 autochthonous cases reported in 24 municipalities; And according to that report, infections doubled in just 7 days: since the epidemiological week, which runs from the week of March 19 to 25, 1,123 autochthonous cases of dengue had been reported, circulating in some 15 municipalities of the province; Meanwhile, from March 26 to April 1, 2,510 autochthonous positive cases were reported in 24 communes, a growth of 123%.
Navarro further commented that With the arrival of cold, the mosquito “holds back a bit” but you have to “be attentive and continue with the control measures because the mosquito is at home, and if the climate inside the house is more pleasant, the mosquito continues to circulate”.
In the same vein, the official warned that “the eggs they lay are very resistant to low temperatures and fumigation, which is why scrapping and cleaning the bins well continues to be the main measure because otherwise the egg remains – it can last a year – and when the higher temperatures start again, it hatches and starts circulating again.” “Seriousness occurs in the face of different types of bites, in the province we had only 3 cases of severe dengue, it is important to use repellent and dispose of debris, because the only way of contagion is through mosquito bites”Navarro explained when a case of dengue can become particularly dangerous for people’s health.
A few days ago, the Buenos Aires government provided recommendations to detect the symptoms of dengue fever and chikungunya fever and to know how to act when faced with their appearance, due to the increase in cases of these diseases. Through a statement it was indicated that symptoms are fever accompanied by headache, pain behind the eyes, joint or muscle pain, skin rash or rash, nausea or vomiting, and abdominal pain. They also clarified that the signs that indicate greater severity are intense abdominal pain or pain when touching the abdomen, persistent vomiting, bleeding gums, nose or eyes, tiredness or irritability and low blood pressure.
Dengue is transmitted through the bite of the female Aedes aegypti mosquito. According to the information that appears in the Epidemiological Bulletin, two of the four existing serotypes of the disease circulate simultaneously: DEN 1 –with 116 notifications– and DEN2 (with 433). It should be noted that infection with one of the four dengue virus serotypes gives immunity against that viral type, but a person can re-infect with another serotype, which in most of these cases constitutes the development of severe dengue ( what was previously called dengue hemorrhagic fever), a potentially fatal disease.
