MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th July, 2023) The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that it recorded a significant increase in dengue fever cases in the Americas, with more cases reported since the start of the year than in the entire 2022.
"Since the beginning of 2023, dengue outbreaks of significant magnitude have been recorded in the WHO Region of the Americas, with close to three million suspected and confirmed cases of dengue reported so far this year, surpassing the 2.8 million cases of dengue registered for the entire year of 2022," the WHO said in a statement.
The highest numbers of dengue cases to date in 2023 were recorded in Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia, the statement read.
Due to the wide spread of Aedes spp. mosquitoes that carry the disease, the organization assessed the risk of contracting dengue fever as "high" at the regional level, WHO said.
At the same time, the organization does not recommend imposing any travel or trade restrictions for the countries in the region, the statement read.
Dengue fever is a tropical disease caused by the dengue virus and transmitted to humans via infected mosquito bites. According to the WHO's data, about half of the world's population currently face the risk of being infected with Dengue fever, and the annual number of cases is estimated at 100-400 million.
According to WHO, most people may carry the disease asymptomatically. Those who have symptoms often suffer from high fever, headaches, body aches, nausea and rash. The majority of patients recover in one or two weeks, however, some people develop severe dengue which includes shock or respiratory distress due to plasma leakage, severe bleeding or organ impairment, and may cause death.
