Aedes Aegypti. This is the name of the mosquito that has the health authorities in Honduras trembling. The country’s hospitals are overwhelmed and health professionals are struggling to manage the increase in the number of patients infected with the virus. dengue virus transmitted by this tiger mosquito, known to be also a vector of zika and chikungunya.
Several Central American states are affected by a dengue fever epidemic, but it is in Honduras that the toll is heaviest, and it continues to increase day after day. As reported El País in its edition of August 19, over the period from January to July 2019, the disease caused 83 deaths in the country out of the 49,326 cases recorded, including 10,853 serious. The spread of the virus, favored by the rainy season, has taken on such proportions that the government of Juan Orlando Hernández has declared the country in a situation of national emergency. Health authorities are preparing for a worsening of the situation in the coming months and the multiplication of dengue fever cases could well cross the 140,000 mark by the end of the year.
Nicaragua would be the second most affected country in Central America by the dengue epidemic with 10 deaths linked to the virus recorded.
In Central America, dengue killed 150 people out of more than 177,259 recorded cases, of which 11,424 required hospitalization.
Degraded health systems that facilitate the spread of the virus
The situation seems out of control in these Central American countries. Yet the disease is easily controllable with adequate health infrastructure and appropriate prevention and treatment measures, says epidemiologist Leonel Argüello from Managua in Nicaragua, quoted by El Pais. The specialist lists several reasons for the expansion of the dengue virus such as the relaxation of control mechanisms and education of the population [aux moyens de se protéger des piqûres du moustique]; the proliferation of slums and a general “deterioration” of health systems. In Honduras, climate change is another factor that plays into the proliferation of the mosquito responsible for the transmission as well as the expansion and consolidation of the virus.
The WHO predicts that between 2030 and 2050, climate change will cause 250,000 additional deaths each year for various reasons (malnutrition, heat stress, diarrhea, malaria) and that these climatic changes will also facilitate the spread of viruses such as dengue fever.
Read also
Dengue fever: a successful test in Australia
Ebola in the DRC: more than 1,900 deaths in one year
Zika: the first trimester of pregnancy is the most at risk