Jalisco records 243% increase in Dengue cases

Until the beginning of August, a total of 790 confirmed cases of dengue were recorded in Jalisco, which, according to the Jalisco Ministry of Health (SSJ), represents an increase of about 243% compared to the figure in the same period of 2018: 233 patients.

Together with Chiapas, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Quintana Roo, Jalisco is among the list of five states with the highest number of cases, while in incidence it occupies the seventh position, with a rate of 9.54 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants (the average national is located at 5.49).

“All the states of the Mexican Republic have an increase in the disease. It is a behavior that, epidemiologically, is normal for Jalisco. Although we are from the states that, compared to 2018, we have more cases,” said Mario Márquez Amezcua, general director of Prevention and Health Promotion of the SSJ.

The official explained that, compared to last year, the increase in cases nationwide is 103 percent.

The municipalities with the highest number of patients in Jalisco include Cabo Corrientes, Cihuatlán, Puerto Vallarta, Bolaños, Chimaltitán and those in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area.

However, beyond the incidence, which usually shows cyclic behavior, complications have been detected in patients affected by dengue who share other comorbidities.

“What worries us a lot? The clinical behavior that dengue is currently having, especially related to serotype number 2, because we have found, thanks to the General Hospital of the West, the IMSS, the ISSSTE and the Civil Hospitals, an association with patients who go with diabetes or hypertension and who have four and five times, respectively, more risk of developing severe forms (dengue), while patients with immunosuppression all develop warning signs,” he said.

Therefore, he recommended that these people implement physical protection measures in their homes to prevent the entry of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the disease transmitter, as well as seek immediate medical attention in case of symptoms such as fever, headache, and joint pain or muscle

Given this panorama and with the joint participation of the SSJ, the Jalisco Secretariat of Education (SEJ) and the Network of Municipalities for Health, yesterday announced the start-up in the entity of the second National Day of Intensification of Fight against Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika. During this, preventive information will be disseminated among students and the general population, and the actions of ovitrampas surveillance, epidemiological fences, and vector control will be reinforced.