Dengue fever is spreading ferociously across much of South America, forcing patients to languish on hospital floors as doctors become overwhelmed.
Brazil has recorded more than 1.5 million cases and 390 deaths due to the disease this year alone, fast approaching the 1.6 million total cases confirmed in all of 2023. And other countries on the continent, including Peru, Paraguay, and Argentina, are struggling to keep up with the widespread outbreaks.
Doctors and patients in the capital, Brasilia, say it is creating scenes similar to the darkest days of Covid. Patients with the illness dubbed ‘bone breaking disease’ because of the incredible pain it causes to joints and bones can be heard wailing as overrun doctors struggle to keep up with demand.
Epidemiologists blame the global rise in temperatures, which allows the mosquito which carries the virus to live longer and thrive across a wider swathe of territory. Brazilian officials have begun fumigating the streets of major cities, hunting the mosquitoes that transmit dengue.
It has prompted state health officials to roam 17 cities that have declared a state of emergency, fumigating properties and advising people on how best to avoid infection. The CDC has issued a warning about the increasing number of cases. Gabriela Paz-Bailey, who specializes in dengue at the CDC, said: ‘Cases of dengue fever are rising at an alarming rate. It’s becoming a public health crisis and coming to places that have never had it before.’
There is a risk that what is happening in South American could also occur in the US, largely across the south, and much of Europe, as temperatures continue to rise. Florida reported a record 178 cases of local transmission last year. Hawaii, Texas, and Louisiana have also seen an increase in cases.
