Brazil breaks historic dengue record, with 1.9 million cases

In the first three months of this year, Brazil has already broken the historical record for dengue cases, recorded since the 2000s; there are 561 confirmed deaths

Brazil has already broken the historical record for dengue cases in a single year, after the first three months of 2024. According to data from the Ministry of Health, released on Monday (18), there are almost 1.9 million infections (probable and confirmed), in addition to 561 confirmed deaths and another thousand deaths under investigation.

Well before the end of the year, it is already possible to say that the number of cases of the disease transmitted by the dengue mosquito in Brazil is the highest since the beginning of the historical series, which began in the 2000s. Until then, the record number of cases was in 2015 , with 1.68 million cases. In 2023, there were 1.65 million infections.

In the worst case scenario, Brazil could record up to 5 million cases of dengue throughout the year, according to a forecast from the Ministry of Health, shared three months ago.

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Profile of dengue in Brazil

To understand the profile of dengue in Brazil, 55.5% of dengue patients are women, according to the Arbovirus Panel. Regarding color, 40.7% of those infected by the virus transmitted by the dengue mosquito are brown.

Furthermore, the age group most affected in the current epidemic is young people, aged 20 to 29. In this group, there are more than 360 thousand patients.

Health emergency due to dengue

Faced with the explosion of dengue cases in Brazil, numerous states have already declared a state of emergency because of the disease. Below, check out which ones are in this situation:

• Acre;
• Holy Spirit;
• Goiás;
• Minas Gerais;
• Paraná;
• Rio de Janeiro;
• Rio Grande do Sul;
• Santa Catarina;
• São Paulo;
• Federal District.

Dengue epidemic in São Paulo

In the Brazilian scenario, it is worth highlighting the city of São Paulo, in a state of emergency due to the dengue epidemic. There are 49,700 confirmed cases, not counting probable cases, and eight deaths since the beginning of the year.

The incidence rate of the disease is more than 414 cases for every 100 thousand inhabitants. According to the criteria of the World Health Organization (WHO), the epidemic occurs when there are 300 cases per 100 thousand.

Source: Ministry of Health and Agência Brasil

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