MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Dengue in Paraguay: 20 deaths and 5.766 cases confirmed

To date, 106,127 total dengue fever cases have been reported, including 5,766 confirmed cases and 20 deaths. Nearly 20.000 cases have been reported weekly

Paraguay's Health Minister Julio Mazzoleni announced on Friday the latest information on the dengue fever outbreak in the country. “We want to start the conference with good news: the epidemic has slowed in the area of Asunción and Central, at this time we have not reached peak and we are currently on a plateau and we even have a tendency of a decline in most of the hospitals, stating this will be corroborated next week”.

To date, 106,127 total dengue fever cases have been reported, including 5,766 confirmed cases and 20 deaths. The deaths have been reported from Central (11), Concepción (3), Asunción (2), San Pedro Sur (1), Pdte. Hayes (1), Alto Paraná (1) and Paraguarí (1). Nearly 20,000 cases have been reported weekly during recent weeks.

In addition, officials report serotype DEN-1 is circulating, bringing it to three dengue serotypes circulating in the national territory: DEN-1, DEN-2 and DEN-4, with a predominance of the latter. Likewise, co-circulation of DEN-2 and DEN-4 is verified in 12 health regions of the country, and co-circulation of the three serotypes in Itapúa.

In the last four weeks, all neighborhoods in Asunción register dengue notifications. About 28% of neighborhoods have confirmed cases of the disease. The DEN-4 serotype is located in 18 neighborhoods of the Capital: in Ciudad Nueva, Bernardino Caballero, Jara, Yukyty, Las Mercedes, Madame Lynch, Mbocayaty, Murucuyá, Obrero, Pinozá, San Antonio, San Cayetano, San Vicente, Santa Rosa , Holy Trinity, Tablada, Virgin of the Assumption, Vista Alegre and Zeballos Cué; and DEN-2 in Tablada Nueva.

The Central department reflects the same epidemiological behavior, reporting cases in all its districts. DEN-4 circulates in Limpio, MRA, Luque, Areguá, Itauguá, Ypacaraí, Itá, Nueva Italia, Villeta, Guarambaré, Ypané, JA Saldívar, San Antonio, Ñemby, Capiatá, San Lorenzo, Villa Elisa, Lambaré; and co-circulation of DEN-4 and DEN-2 in the Fernando de la Mora district.