The provincial government of Santiago del Estero declared a health emergency due to the increase in dengue cases, which reach 5,500 in 25 of the 27 provincial departments. The measure was published in the Official Gazette and will be in force for 12 months, although it could be extended according to the evolution of the outbreak.
The measure is based on a request from the Directorate of Vector-Transmissible Diseases of the Ministry of Health of the province, that “the Health Emergency be declared throughout the provincial territory, by virtue of the epidemiological risk posed by outbreaks of dengue, leishmaniasis , Zika and chikungunya”.
The epidemiological report of the provincial Ministry of Health for week 14 of dengue (until April 12), detailed that until a week ago there were 5,454 total confirmed cases accumulated. Of them, 2,557 were confirmed by laboratory and the other 2,897, by epidemiological link, specified the report.
There are already more than 41 thousand cases and 35 fatalities registered throughout the country.
So far, more than 41,200 cases of the disease have been reported in the country, and the circulation of the virus has been identified in 15 provinces in the center, north, northwest, and northeast. The fatalities rose to 35 this week, after learning of the two deaths in the city of Buenos Aires.
The Minister of Health of Santiago del Estero Natividad Nassif affirmed that in “twenty-five of the 27 departments are affected by the presence of dengue” and “in about 12 there are outbreaks and the rest are circulating.”
In addition, the official stressed that the declaration of a health emergency “is very important” to “make decisions and actions quickly”, which is what “a pandemic situation like the one we are going through with the presence of dengue demands to address it in a timely manner and effective”.
“This implies a very articulated work with the commissions, municipalities and with the population and the alert that our entire health system has to be able to monitor the different moments by which this process is developing,” he explained.
Regarding the state of the patients, the minister stated that “there are hospitalizations in rooms, in ICUs and ICUs, and there are brief hospitalizations where they are stabilized.” In addition, she specified that “the DEN1 and DEN 2 serotypes are circulating” and said that the latter is very virulent and aggressive, which causes serious cases.
Nassif stressed that the entire health system works closely together with commissions and municipalities in prevention, junkyard actions and patient care and blocking the most affected places.
