March 23, 2023, 10:49 AM
March 23, 2023, 10:49 AM
The department of Santa Cruz registers a historical record of dengue caseswith the highest number since the historic 2009 epidemic, when 4,178 cases and 15 deaths from the disease were recorded.
According to the report by the Headquarters Epidemiology manager, Carlos Hurtado, the figure for 2009 has almost tripled, since since the beginning of this year the region has accumulated 11,128 positive cases. “That is, 137 cases per day, the year with the highest number of cases in history for dengue disease,” he said.
However, the specialist stated that “we are in a intense decline of the epidemiological curve”, since, from week number 7, the cases began to drop. “We are still far from the control situation, but we are on our way to it,” he asserted.
Of the total cases of dengue in the department, the capital of Santa Cruz concentrates the 65% with 7,224 infections. 49 municipalities present cases and six of them continue in epidemic. Faced with this scenario, Hurtado announced that, from this day on, control and fumigation activities in the provinces will be reinforced.
“We are intervening immediately yapacani today (Thursday) and the next days Warnes, San Julián and Cuatro Cañadas. The highest concentration of cases is in schoolchildren, for this reason we will dedicate ourselves to the destruction of hatcheries and fumigation of educational units in all these municipalities, ”he explained.
To date, the age group of six to 29 years continues to be the most affected with the 59% of cases. Although, in the last two weeks there was a higher incidence in minors between the ages of five and 18.
According to Hurtado, the disease has claimed the lives of 40 people in the department. 35 of these deaths are confirmed by the Scientific Committee and five have not yet been evaluated by specialists.
