MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Dengue Cases in Paraguay Soar to 5.646 Concentrated on Brazilian Border

The Aedes Aegypti mosquito which transmit the disease

Paraguayan health authorities said that the number of dengue confirmed cases have reached 5.646, including a death toll of twelve, the latest of which a 60-year-old man and a 5-year-old boy. Most of the deaths reported are in areas near the border with Brazil.

“Two new deaths have been added this week: a male patient, age 60, from Pedro Juan Caballero and the other, a boy age 5, from Fernando de la Mora,” Health Ministry Disease Monitoring Service specialist Dr. Agueda Aguero said. Pedro Juan Caballero, located 540 kilometres northeast of Asunción and on the border with Brazil’s Matto Grosso do Sul state, is the capital of Amambay province, while Fernando de la Mora is a town near Asunción.

Of the 12,000 notifications sent to health officials, 5.646 dengue cases have been confirmed; the majority of them in Central, Amambay, Concepción and Alto Paraná provinces, Aguero said. Concepción and Alto Paraná are on the border with Brazil.

“Practically in all the provinces the virus is going around,” the health official said. The disease spread across Paraguay due to the movement of large numbers of people during Holy Week, Aguero said.

Dengue is a serious viral disease transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito that is characterized by high fever, intense headaches, muscle pain, gastro-intestinal problems and rashes. Hemorrhagic dengue—in addition to having symptoms associated with classic dengue sucha as fever, headaches and joint pain—can also produce internal bleeding.

Paraguay did not have any fatal dengue cases in 2008 and 2009, but an epidemic in early 2007 killed 17 people and infected 27,000 others.