MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay reports 80 dengue cases in one day

Satdjian hoped that this year's flu vaccination campaign would be as successful as previous versions

Uruguayan authorities announced Monday in Montevideo that 80 new cases of dengue fever have been confirmed nationwide, 55 of them autochthonous (i.e., in patients with no recent travel history) and 25 imported.

Three people with dengue fever died, but only in one of these cases was dengue considered the cause of death. In the other two, doctors believe that other comorbidities played a determining role.

According to the latest report from the Health Ministry, there are 322 autochthonous cases of the disease and 269 imported ones, as specialists expect outbreaks every year, but not every month.

Of the 591 dengue fever cases in the country, 166 occurred in Salto, followed by Montevideo with 154, Paysandú with 91, Maldonado with 44, Canelones with 41, Colonia with 18, Rivera with 14 and Artigas with 13. The rest were scattered in San José, Durazno, Florida, Río Negro, Rocha, Lavalleja, Soriano, Tacuarembó, and Treinta y Tres, while Cerro Largo and Flores remain without cases.

Of the 269 imported cases, 141 people had traveled to Argentina (52.4%), 104 to Brazil (38.7%), 18 to Paraguay (6.7%), and the remaining 2.2% to Mexico, Aruba, Dominican Republic, Curaçao, and other countries.

As of Monday, 12 dengue patients were still hospitalized in moderate care units. In addition, 52 cases were still awaiting laboratory results.

Meanwhile, Uruguay's Health Ministry announced a flu vaccination campaign to begin in the next few weeks ahead of the winter season. Vaccination is recommended for the entire population, but especially for older adults, children, and people with chronic medical conditions.

Health Undersecretary José Luis Satdjian said the flu vaccination campaign is expected to begin between late April and early May. “We anticipate a good uptake, as is usually the case,” Satdjian also said. “The most successful campaign was in 2020 with one million doses provided, then we had 700,000 in 2021 and then we historically placed in Uruguay's vaccination campaigns between 550,000 and 600,000 doses,” he added.