Dengue Medical Emergency declared in Rio de Janeiro ahead of carnival celebrations

Authorities in Brazil’s capital, Rio de Janeiro, have announced a public health emergency due to an outbreak of dengue fever on Monday, just days prior to the start of the carnival celebrations are set to begin across the entire nation.

Initially, the dengue outbreak was not expected to affect the carnival celebrations to a significant degree but in light of recent developments, authorities in Rio de Janeiro have decided to put special measures in place to control the impact and the spread of the disease.

It is important for authorities to limit the disease as the carnival celebrations are supposed to begin officially on Friday, in the evening and continue till the 14th of February.

The Rio city hall has also informed citizens that it is opening 10 care centres, designating hospital beds specifically for dengue patients and creating emergency operation centres for the benefit of those suffering from the disease.

The city is also making use of “smoke cars”, for the purpose of diffusing insecticides in aerosol form, in areas where the disease is highly prevalent and cases are rising.

The municipality has been grappling with this problem for some time now, as it has been revealed that since the beginning of 2024, more than 10,000 cases of dengue have been registered.

Comparatively, in 2023, a total of 23,000 cases were registered in the same area, which shows the rapid spread of the disease that is being experienced this year.

The issue has become a prominent topic of discussion socially as well, since tourists and citizens have been making their way into the streets of Rio de Janeiro in anticipation of the street parties and samba parades, which are a salient feature of the festivities during this time of the year.

Governor Cláudio Castro, presented Rio state’s operational plans for the carnival on Monday, while announcing the “Against Dengue Every Day” campaign.

As a part of this campaign, the authorities are distributing repellents, stickers, bandanas and hats. A warning has also been shown at the Sambadrome, in the form of a 15-second notice, to raise awareness about ways in which the disease can be tackled.

Dengue is a viral, mosquito borne disease which is transmitted through bites from carrier mosquitos and is a common phenomenon in parts of the world which have a tropical climate.

The fact that Rio de Janeiro sees frequent rain, coupled with the high temperatures it experiences, makes it the perfect breeding ground for mosquitos as these conditions accelerate the hatching of eggs and their subsequent maturation process.

It is important to note, that even though Rio is garnering attention because of dengue currently, the disease is an issue all over Brazil. In fact, the situation is dire and has prompted the states of Acre, Minas, Gerais and Goias, as well as the federal district to declare public health emergencies, which is not a positive sign.

In response to this, the Brazilian Air Force established a 60-bed field hospital in the Federal District of Ceilandia, on Monday, to help treat patients.

Air Force Commander, Lt. Brig. Marcelo Kanitz Damascene, stated the following, “Our objective is to relieve emergency care units in the region, given that today the Federal District accounts for around 20% of dengue cases in the country.”

The World Health Organisation has clarified that even though most people who contract dengue do not present with symptoms, those that do, present with fever, headache, body aches, nausea and a rash.

In such cases, most patients recover with in the span of a week or so but those that develop a more severe form of the disease require hospitalization. In such cases, there is always the possibility that the disease can be fatal.

The World Health Organisation has also highlighted the fact that climate change has had a major impact on the prevalence of dengue and other such diseases, since it has brought about a rise in temperatures and increased the levels of rainfall.

These conditions are quite suitable for mosquitos to breed which plays a role in complicating the issue and makes it harder for public health authorities to limit the spread of the disease.

The Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, issued the following statement, “Unlike the COVID-19 pandemic, in which individual citizens couldn’t do much more than demand that governments get the vaccine, in the case of dengue much depends on the action of each citizen.”

Interestingly, Brazil became the first country in the world to approve a vaccine for dengue in March 2023 and was prepared to offer it to citizens through the public health system, in accordance with the Health Ministry’s plan.

Through this initiative, the Health Ministry was looking to provide the vaccine to 3 million people in 2024 itself.

It is unclear whether the vaccination program will be able to limit the disease effectively in Brazil. What is obvious though, is that Brazil has a major public health crisis on its hands, which seems to be getting worse progressively as each year passes.