2024-10-19 17:09:00
As part of the measures to interrupt the outbreak and prevent the spread of infection, the Ministry of Health of Córdoba fumigated and removed all containers in the Faculty of Liberal Arts of the National University of Córdoba that accumulated water and could be breeding grounds for mosquitoes. A young student with confirmed local dengue fever cases came to class.
The students are very nice. “They have overcome the fever period, which is the risk of contagion, and also the critical period, which is the 48 hours after the fever disappears, which is the period when symptoms can develop complications. They will be discharged within the next few hours.
The official confirmed that fumigation was carried out inside the Faculty of Arts and the preventive health team also carried out scrapping to avoid becoming a breeding ground. egyptian palace The mosquito vector of the disease.
Vettori clarified: “One area of the academy is under control, it is the space they share and it was the area that was occupied at the time, but no new cases have been confirmed so far and this measure is preventive in nature.”
The cracks were also preventive, and according to Vettori they did not find many containers or possible breeding sites in the environment.
“They have no travel history, so we know they are local cases, but the reality is we don’t know where they were infected, which is why we have focused lockdowns in all the places they share,” Vettori explained.
Season preview
These first local dengue cases come 13 weeks earlier than the last outbreak of the disease, in which only three local cases were confirmed on December 23 last year, involving a man and his two children. The daughters are 7 and 12 years old respectively.
Prior to this, 34 imported dengue cases had been detected last season, belonging to people traveling to Chaco, Formosa, Misiones Department, Mexico and Peru.
Another epidemiological oddity is that the first confirmed case this year was a local case.
“It appeared much earlier but that was expected due to the existing weather conditions. Humidity and temperatures between 24 and 26 degrees are ideal conditions for mosquitoes to breed, which is what we have been experiencing in recent weeks. .
alarm and hope
Local circulation has long been expected to be a warning factor. But Vettori understands that this can happen, in part because “health systems are sensitive to diagnosis.” That said: In past seasons, cases could also have occurred before they were officially reported and confirmed, but not picked up by the health system.
Last year, the types of dengue fever circulating in Cordoba’s outbreak were Den 1 and Den 2. The data is important for what comes next, and amid concerns about early circulation, it provides an expectation that this season won’t be worse than the last, when populations were much more susceptible to the virus. Getting sick from vector stings.
Vettori explained: “Infected people have two types of immunity. One is heterologous, against all virus variants, which protects against new infections for six months to a year, and the other is homologous, which protects against new infections for six months to a year. For the same variant, it can last a lifetime. Although we did not conduct a prevalence study in Córdoba, the Municipality of Buenos Aires (Caba) did and found that last season there were 21% to 25%. % of the population is infected with dengue fever.
This provides the basis for “herd” immunity, which can reduce the impact of infection as long as the same dengue serotype remains in circulation.
“We have to consider that for every symptomatic patient, there are three asymptomatic patients who may not be detected by the health system,” the doctor noted.
Poor vaccination compliance
For three weeks, the province’s dengue vaccination campaign has focused on people who developed severe dengue symptoms last season. They are those who require hospitalization due to prevalent diseases or who belong to high-risk groups, which may cause severe symptoms when combined with dengue fever.
“During September, those who had dengue and required hospitalization were vaccinated. The fact that persistence was not optimal is consistent with the situation in other parts of the country,” Vettori admitted.
One of the factors that might explain this is lower perception of risk — even among those who have had a bad time with a previous infection — and fundamentally, the only way the province has implemented a shift notification The format is via Digital Citizen (Cidi) in an attempt to avoid phone scams, but this may not be effective in reaching the target group as they do not consult the platform regularly.
This activity will continue with health staff from public institutions this week and medical teams from private institutions next week.
“The quantities of vaccines purchased will not arrive all at once, which is why vaccination is carried out in stages. But vaccines are another factor in controlling the epidemic, but not the main factor. The most important thing is that we have become accustomed to having no mosquitoes in our homes. The elements of a breeding ground, mosquitoes are a household habit,” Vettori insists.
Key measures to reduce mosquito breeding sites
- Remove any unused containers that may hold water.
- Keep yards and gardens clean, tidy and weeded.
- Clean animal drinking fountains and scrub container walls every day.
- Fill vase and pot holders with wet sand. If this is not possible, clean and change the water daily.
- Clean roof gutters and rain gutters.
- Invert, cover or empty items that cannot be disposed of and may hold water.
- It is important to remember that during the sanitary monitoring carried out every season in the city of Córdoba, the most common places where larvae are found are containers with plants, buckets, stormwater drains, cans or jars and bottles. They are also found in toys, discarded tires, flower pot stands, etc.
Tips to avoid bites
- Place mosquito nets on doors and windows.
- Please use repellent carefully and according to the recommendations on the package.
- Wear lightweight clothing that covers your arms and legs, especially when doing outdoor activities.
- Protect cribs and strollers with tulle.
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