The influence of social, demographic and environmental factors, resulting from unplanned urbanization, the variability of vector control efforts, cultural aspects, housing conditions and the quality of the provision of health services have contributed to the increase in the incidence and appearance of dengue in many municipalities of the country, indicates the protocol of the National Institute of Health.
When making a comparative analysis by South American countries, Brazil, with 428 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants, occupies first place, followed by Paraguay (220 cases), Peru (140 cases), Ecuador (108 cases) and Colombia with 95 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants.
In epidemiological week 22 of 2024, 9,789 probable cases of dengue were reported: 6,256 cases from this week and 3,533 cases from previous weeks. According to the accumulated data, 166,334 cases are registered, 102,411 (61.6%) without warning signs, 62,420 (37.7%) with warning signs and 1,503 (0.9%) of severe dengue.
77.2% (128,389) of the cases nationwide come from Valle del Cauca (34,681 cases), Cali (22,401 cases), Santander (16,431 cases), Huila (15,279 cases), Tolima (15,093 cases) and Cundinamarca ( 7,495 cases). According to the National Institute of Health, Ibagué is above what was expected according to the endemic dengue channel with a population greater than 100 thousand inhabitants.
El Cronista.co spoke informally the previous week with the Secretary of Health of Tolima, who expressed that, through the Collective Intervention Plan, 24 of the 27 municipalities are directly impacted, working with strategies to promote habits that allow to reduce the presence of the mosquito that transmits the disease, Aedes aegypti. This approach is different from the work carried out by the Ibagué health portfolio.
Although the notification of vector-borne diseases in the epidemiological bulletin of the Secretary of Health of Tolima is mandatory, when scanning the information, it is found that the last report issued so far on dengue corresponds to week 14, where there were 9,291 reported cases, with an increase of 345% compared to the same period in 2023.
The municipalities with the highest incidence of dengue cases are, firstly, Ibagué with 4,973 cases, Chaparral with 554 cases, Melgar with 425 cases, Lebanon with 365 cases, Espinal with 348 cases and Guamo with 244 cases, according to the table at week 14 of this year.
