In one week the Ministry of Health registered 1,086 cases of dengue, meaning that until April 20 in the country There are 14,697 people who have had the disease. The figure is high and represents an increase of 480 percent, when compared to the 2,537 identified last year.
According to the report, there are 12 departments that have the highest incidence, but there are four where there are more than a thousand cases. The list is headed by Jutiapa with one thousand 956, followed by Quetzaltenango with 1,386, Santa Rosa with 1,230 and Escuintla with 1,0010.
When Totonicapán was free of the disease on April 20 last year, For this year, seven cases are reported.
The epidemiological report of the Ministry of Health states that eight out of every 10 registered cases are dengue without warning signs and about two out of 10 showed an alarm condition, and It is Zacapa that had the most of these patients.
One in two of the people with dengue were minors. While 54 were women.
Dengue is transmitted by mosquitoes Temples of the Egyptianswhich can also transmit other arboviruses, in this Zika case, of which 14 people are reported with the disease and in Petén there are 11. The other infection is chinkungunya, of which there are 21 reports, and Chimaltenango and San Marcos register 7 and 6 respectively.
Mosquito behavior
The increase in temperatures that afflicts Guatemala and the other countries in the region, as well as the intermittent rains and periods of drought cause the dengue-transmitting mosquito circulates in places where it was not found before. These conditions also contribute to extending the periods of disease transmission, according to experts in vector behavior.
There are four serotypes of the virus: DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4, and all of them circulate in the country, however, the Ministry of Health reports that since 2023 the one that has had the most predominance is the third. .
However, In Retalhuleu the presence of the four serotypes has been observed this year. This represents a risk, since the same person can be infected up to four times with the infection. A combination of two or more different strains of the virus causes the body to react very violently.
Given this increase in cases and because this is a season of high dengue transmission, the authorities remain on epidemiological alert, and carry out control and prevention actions, according to a press release.
On the other hand, they ask Guatemalans to periodically wash sinks and areas to store water for consumption, turn over containers such as tires, pots and bottles to avoid water stagnation, among other actions.
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