The number of patients with dengue symptoms is increasing in Oeiras

The number of confirmed dengue cases rose in Oeiras, and in the early months of 2022 the disease recorded a high proportion of people infected with the disease.

The city is experiencing an outbreak, with health professionals on alert.

Not many people have paid enough attention to dengue, but it is a serious condition. As the city suffers an invasion year after year, the next stage is always worse.

This increase can be seen by the large number of people seeking a UPA for medical care. After an increase in the number of patients with flu-like symptoms, most of them are now complaining of dengue fever symptoms. To make matters worse, patients say there is a shortage of medicine in that health unit.

Miguel Angelo Ribeiro de Sousa, coordinator of epidemiological surveillance at the Municipal Health Department, explains that arthropod viruses are epidemic diseases and are transmitted by the female Aedes aegypti. “So the diseases that are primarily associated with this mosquito in adulthood are dengue, Zika, chikungunya, yellow fever. These diseases are subject to seasonality, so it is an event that always happens at a certain time of the year. And that is in relation to the issue of dengue and Zika virus and chikungunya. Basically and yellow fever, it has a specific period of the year in which it mainly occurs while the clean water accumulates, which makes it possible with the water and the temperature, the reproduction, the emergence, the reproduction of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, and from there the transmission of this disease increases. When it comes to the issue of dengue and chikungunya, currently in the municipality of Oeiras, we will notice that the municipality is already experiencing this outbreak. And what is this difference? Why the outbreak? Because these events, these cases that happen, are distributed in the neighborhoods of our city and this is not described as A pandemic. What will differentiate is exactly the scale of the dissemination. So with respect to these diseases, it is expected that they will occur in this period due to rainfall, water accumulation, humidity, and all these advantages allow this disease to be transmitted. In this regard, the epidemiological control of the municipality, in the case that I represented as coordinator, was interested in calling for a meeting of some sectors related to combating this mosquito in an attempt. To prevent cases and closely monitor co-occurring cases, particularly in relation to chikungunya. Why chikungunya? The complaints that are now emerging are very compatible with chikungunya. So we called the Municipal Endemic Diseases Service, Eighth Provincial Health, Epidemiological Surveillance Center of Diolindo Koto Provincial Hospital to discuss the scenario of the outbreak that occurred in recent weeks, so that from then on we can develop effective strategies for this preventive confrontation, and at the same time, surveillance and Treat these people,” said Michelangelo.

The coordinator says that a report is being prepared that will be submitted to the municipal health minister, who is already familiar with the situation, and that this report will provide an approximate picture of the scenario that was happening in Oeiras and that there are already some alternative proposals to deal with this disease. “During this entire week, we will be announcing these measures. But that does not mean that they will only be now. The Family Health Strategy teams, and the Endemic Diseases Service have already done this throughout the year. During this period, there has been an increase in cases of fever and that it is to be expected. Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya due to the increased prevalence of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Miguel Angelo concludes by drawing the population’s attention to all the signs and symptoms that may indicate these diseases: pain and swelling in the joints, fever, body aches, and red spots on the body, so these are all compatible signs of both dengue and chikungunya. “We will continue with the procedures we have developed: home visits to conduct an in-house inspection and mite screening; and to collect materials that can serve as breeding grounds for these mosquitoes. In an isolated way, residents must understand that they are an integral part of this process. We will continue to prepare and develop our collective efforts in City neighborhoods, particularly in those areas where there is a greater concentration of cases that do occur.I would like to ask people who display these symptoms, inform the community health agent, the endemic agent, to go to the basic health reference unit so they can proceed with notification, investigation, and ordering tests The laboratory, because the faster, the better. We can’t wait for the test results. At the beginning of the situation, we need to confront it, we need to treat people even before the test results arrive. But that’s if people seek our services.”