Dengue outbreak in Caribbean & Latin America, PAHO heads to take immediate actions

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has cautioned citizens regarding the increase in dengue cases in the Americas. The regions affected by the Caribbean include Barbados and the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. 

As the reports, PAHO Director Jarbas Barbosa expressed his concern as over 3.5 million dengue cases have been recorded and notably, approximately 1,000 deaths occurred till March 26 due to a spike in Dengue. 

“This is cause for concern, as it represents three times more cases than those reported for the same period in 2023, a record year with more than 4.5 million cases reported in the region”, said Barbosa. 

The rise in Dengue affects various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The countries most affected are Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. These particular countries have counted around 92 per cent of cases who are suffering from the effects of Dengue, and 87 per cent have been noted deaths. 

The reason behind the increase in dengue fever is the change in the climate. the Aedes aegypti mosquito vector of Dengue is produced due to warm and rainy weather. 

Noting this, Barbosa advised the people to be prepared and adopt measures to avoid dengue fever, as he envisioned that it would increase by the second half of the year. 

“We are also seeing an uptick in cases in countries such as Barbados, Costa Rica, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Mexico and Martinique, where transmission is usually higher in the second half of the year”, PAHO Director Barbosa remarked. 

The several environmental and social factors contribute to the spread of Dengue are as follows, 

– Rising temperature

– The EI Nino phenomenon

– Extreme weather events

– Rapid population growth

– Unplanned urbanisation

– Poor housing conditions

– Inadequate water and sanitation services

The residents are urged to now allow objects that can collect water on the streets and outside their houses, which can be a hub for the birth of mosquitoes. 

Dr Barbosa and his team are working efficiently and dedicatedly to curb the problem of mosquitoes and Dengue in the various Latin America and Caribbean nations. He favours to take immediate action to prevent and control its transmission. 

“Despite the record increase in cases in 2023, the dengue case fatality rate in the region remained below 0.05%. This is very encouraging, considering the spikes in cases we have seen since then”, he added. 

The authorities of the concerned regions are adopting every possible step to tackle the problem and they understand that the dengue problem is a task for all sectors in the society.