MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine province of Santa Fe on alert as number of dengue cases soars

Dengue cases are evenly recorded all across Rosario

The Argentine province of Santa Fe Friday reported a significant rise in dengue cases, with 598 confirmed, including 563 autochthonous, 25 imported (with patients having a travel history to places such as India, Maldives, Colombia, Brazil, and other provinces of Argentina), and 10 under investigation.

Last week alone, 183 new infections were recorded, a 44.1% increase from the previous week's total of 415. In the city of Rosario, cases have doubled recently, with over 509 reported, including a new serotype (Den-3) detected in a traveler from abroad. Despite the increase, the total number of cases is lower than last year's 30,000, with authorities noting a more even distribution across districts compared to the previous outbreak.

The Santa Fe de la Veracruz City Hall and health officials have insisted on preventive measures, such as removing or managing water-holding containers where Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes breed. Recommendations include discarding unused containers, covering or turning over others, and regularly cleaning pet water bowls and drains. After rainfall, residents are urged to check for stagnant water in places like plant leaves, gutters, and buckets. Travelers to areas with dengue circulation are advised to use repellent and seek medical attention if feverish.

Health responses include fumigation, case tracking by “callers” (teams monitoring patients daily), and vaccination efforts, with over 30,000 people vaccinated in Rosario, targeting teens and at-risk groups. The province is in an outbreak phase with an accelerating case curve, though containment efforts like blockades continue.

Two patients are currently in intensive care, underscoring the need for early consultation and hydration to prevent severe outcomes. Homemade repellents are noted as potentially dangerous and ineffective.

“Unlike last year, all the districts of Rosario have cases, which is different from last year, when it was very sectorized. There are also many fewer cases than in the same period last year. Twelve months ago there were more than 2,000 cases and now we are at 20 percent,” City Health Secretary Soledad Rodríguez told La Capital.

Last year, 30,000 cases were recorded with “many neighborhoods red hot, but, at present, they are very distributed in all sectors of the city. And there are fewer cases because we have acted previously with environmental sanitation tasks in the surroundings. There were 1,800 cases per week with many cases in the northwest and west districts and then, towards the end of the outbreak, a significant number of cases were detected towards the north and in Tablada, to the south. Now there are fewer and more distributed in all districts,” she further noted.

“We are doubling the cases in general lines, week after week and we are in a moment of the curve clearly ascending and in an accelerated way. But since there are not so many cases, blockades are still being carried out to limit the expansion in the territory,” Rodriguez also pointed out.

In Rosario, over 30,000 patients have already been vaccinated, and many of them have already taken the second dose, with adolescents aged between 15 and 19 years of age and patients with comorbidities as the primary target. “Vaccines are available at health centers and vaccination centers, all those who have criteria of protection with the vaccine should go and get vaccinated,” the official insisted.

Rosario is Argentina's third-largest city, following Buenos Aires and Córdoba. Located along the Paraná River, it is also known for being the birthplace of Lionel Messi and Ernesto Che Guevara, as well as many writers and musicians. It is also where Manuel Belgrano first hoisted the national flag on Feb 27, 1812.