Type 3 dengue cases are registered in RJ after 17 years – 04/06/2024 – Health

The government of Rio de Janeiro confirmed this Friday (5) two cases of type 3 dengue fever. According to the Health Department, this serotype of the disease had not circulated in the state since 2007.

A 39-year-old woman, resident of Paraty (250 km from Rio de Janeiro), and a 1-year-old child who lives in Maricá (60 km from Rio de Janeiro) were identified with type 3 dengue fever. Both cases occurred in February, and the patients are doing well. The collected samples were analyzed by technicians from Laben (Noel Nutels Central Public Health Laboratory) and FioCruz (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz).

Dengue is a viral disease transmitted mainly by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. In 2024, Brazil broke historical records for cases of the disease, with more than 1.8 million diagnoses in 78 days.

“Serotype 3 has no important difference in relation to other types 1 and 2, the symptoms are similar. The difference is that it has not circulated for a long time. Therefore, there are people susceptible to this virus and in the long term this can change the current scenario of the prevalence of serotypes 1 and 2. It is not a warning sign or a sign of worsening”, stated the state secretary of Health of Rio de Janeiro, Claudia Mello.

A survey by the secretariat estimates that around 4.8 million people may be vulnerable to this serotype.

“Local surveillance will evaluate contacts, investigate how these patients’ journeys were and, over time, we will understand how these cases presented themselves and whether there was possible contamination in families”, said the leader of the department.

According to the secretariat, the symptoms of type 3 are the same as types 1, 2 and 4: high fever, over 38°C, pain in the body and joints, nausea and vomiting, pain behind the eyes, lack of appetite and possible red spots on the body.

The municipality of Rio de Janeiro announced, on March 29, the end of the dengue epidemic in the capital, and demobilized the service centers. The state government, however, maintained the epidemic decree for other municipalities, despite projections showing a downward trend.

The state had 26,048 cases in the eighth epidemiological week of the year, but recorded 5,465 in the 13th week, which represents the end of March. In 2024, Rio de Janeiro recorded, in its 92 municipalities, 91 deaths and 186,624 probable cases of dengue. The incidence rate is 1,162 cases for every 100,000 inhabitants.