He Ministry of Health released the latest data on the incidence of dengue in Argentina. “In accumulated terms, they have been notified from week 31 of 2023 -end of July and beginning of August- to week 22 of 2024 -end of May- 521,746 cases of dengue (95% indigenous, 3% in research and 2% imported), of which 504,580 (97%) correspond to the year 2024″they reported.
“The accumulated incidence so far for the season is 1,109 cases per hundred thousand inhabitants. Of the total cases registered during week 22 of 2024 (6494) 19, only 316 correspond to said epidemiological week by minimum date,” they stated in the Epidemiological Bulletin, on viral disease transmitted by mosquito Aedes aegypti.
And they added: “In the same period, 1,206 cases were classified as severe dengue (0.23%) in 21 jurisdictions and were registered 365 deceased cases in 18 jurisdictions with a lethality so far of 0.070% (355 cases belong to the year 2024).”
According to the document, “in a country-level analysis, it is recorded a decrease in the number of cases since 8 weeks ago -after the 3 weeks with the highest number of cases, between weeks 12 and 14 (between mid-March and early April), when an average of 59,941 weekly cases were recorded.”
Secondly, from the health portfolio they made the following parallel: “The accumulated cases until week 22 represent 3.26 times more than what was registered in the same period of the previous season -2022/2023- and 7.93 times more than what was recorded in the same period of 2019/2020″.
Regarding the situation by region, they emphasized: “The highest accumulated incidence so far is that of the NOA region with 2,009 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by the NEA with 1,574, Center with 1,066, Cuyo with 287; and, South with 48 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Regarding the contribution of absolute cases, the Central region contributed 61.9% of all reported cases, followed by the NOA regions with 22.8% and NEA, with 13.1%, while the Cuyo and South contribute 2.2%.”
Weeks ago, as he told Infobaethe Ministry of Health announced in a press conference What strategies will you use against dengue? and how he proposes get ahead of the eventual next outbreak 2024-2025.
The minister Mario Russo structured the plan against supported by three fundamental pillars: on the one hand, the experts from the National Immunization Commission (CoNaIn) and its scientific recommendations for the use of the available vaccine and epidemiological surveillance, among others; On the other hand, tailored and specific work in each territory that must be planned by the country’s jurisdictions, which will receive transfers from the Nation – money items, for example through the SUMAR program – based on the achievement of goals.
Russo also sat at the table at Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in its dual role as a trustworthy and observatory body in matters of local-regional-global public health and also to guarantee access to vaccines through the revolving fund.
At that time, in conversation with Infobae, Russo explained: “We will start progressively and in stages – approximately starting August 2024– in the endemic areas of the NEA and NOA, with vaccination against dengue for young people between 15 and 19 years old, that the State will provide. It will be a joint task with each of the jurisdictions and the consensus that we achieve with the experts.
The vaccine will not be part of the National Vaccination Calendar for the moment. For Russo, the clarity of this is very important. in crescendo around vaccination against dengue, to avoid falling into misunderstandings of “vaccines for all”, and above all, to “not create false expectations in the population”.
As of the last meeting that resulted in the minutes of the National Immunization Commission (CoNaIn) that occurred on April 11, 2024, the national health portfolio resolved the following:
- Against the available dengue vaccine – TAK-003, also known as Qdenga® – produced by the Japanese laboratory Takeda – a focused strategy. At the current moment, according to the epidemiological situation, It is not a vaccine to be incorporated into the National Calendar for all jurisdictions in the country.
- The target population to apply the immunizations will be people between 15 and 39 years old in prioritized departments according to epidemiological situation. That is, endemic areas, we will begin in the Northeast (NEA) and Northwest (NOT).
- HE It will begin in stages with the population from 15 to 19 years old and progress will be made dynamic, progressive and staggered according to availability of vaccines and strategies already implemented by jurisdictions.
