Asunción, IP Agency.- “Oropouche” fever is an emerging disease in the Amazon region, which produces a condition similar to dengue, but can be prevented by cleaning environments and eliminating breeding sites.
The Ministry of Public Health warns that the risk of introduction into the country is latent, due to the cases registered in Brazil, which is why it recommends that in the presence of fever or other symptoms, people should go for immediate consultation, mainly those who present any comorbidity or underlying disease.
To date, no cases of Oropouche have been recorded in Paraguay; however, surveillance, detection and control actions are active.
Confirmed cases in Brazil and countries in the region
On April 25 of this year, a case of Oropouche virus was confirmed in Apucarana, in the Northern Region of the state of Paraná, adding to 5 other cases that had already been diagnosed in the state of Paraná, all of them imported.
These cases correspond to the municipalities of Foz de Iguazú, Curitiba and Lupionópolis, bringing the total number of cases registered in the State of Paraná to 6.
So far in 2024, four countries in the region have reported cases of Oropouche in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Peru.
Virus symptoms
The disease causes a condition similar to dengue. It is characterized by the sudden appearance of symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, muscle and joint pain and, in some cases, skin rashes.
Sometimes more severe symptoms include vomiting and bleeding with small red spots on the skin, bleeding from the nose or gums. Occasionally, meningitis or encephalitis may occur.
The infection has an incubation period of 4 to 8 days, although sometimes the first symptoms can appear between 3 and 12 days. Most cases of Oropouche recover within seven days, however, in some patients convalescence may take weeks.
Protection measures
As protection and prevention measures, cleaning environments is essential; avoiding Culicoides paraensis breeding sites, such as the remains of decomposing organic matter in homes and the community, the use of repellent and mosquito net, as well as consulting the nearest health service for diagnosis and timely treatment.
Other insects such as the Culex quinquefasciatus mosquito can also act as a vector, so eliminating containers with stagnant water continues to be a fundamental task.
Oropouche virus (OROV) was initially described in 1955 in the Oropouche Valley, Trinidad and Tobago. Since then, several outbreaks of this infection have been recorded. By June 2023, reports of OROV in humans have appeared, predominantly, in rural and forested areas of Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Bolivia, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela, reported the Ministry of Public Health.
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2024-05-11 20:13:41
