The entire territory of Peru is on epidemiological alert due to a significant increase in cases of dengue fever, informed the Ministry of Health (MINSA) in a press release, which reported that there are 58,117 cases of dengue fever in the country and 75 deaths due to the disease.
This results in a significant increase in the number of cases and deaths compared to the same date last year, when there were 30,873 cases and 28 deaths.
Minsa explains in a document that of the total number of dengue infections in Peru, 50,870 (87.53 percent) correspond to patients with no warning signs. In comparison, 7,544 (12.14 percent) correspond to dengue with warning signs and 193 (0.33 percent) to the severe phase of the disease. The national case fatality rate is 0.13 percent.
Among the regions most affected by dengue cases are Piura, Loreto, San Martin, Junin, Cajamarca, Ucayali, Cusco, Amazonas, Huanuco, and Madre de Dios.
Piura and Madre de Dios are the regions with the highest incidence of dengue cases, with 174 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Peru’s General Directorate of Environmental Health (DIGESA) asks all those who have the symptoms of dengue – high fever, headache, eye pain, bone pain and, when the disease is severe, there may be bruising and bleeding – to go immediately to the health facility closest to their home to undergo the respective screening tests and, if necessary, receive timely treatment and thus avoid putting their health at risk.
There is no specific treatment for patients with dengue fever. Symptoms, such as headaches and body aches, should be treated at the health facility with analgesics and antipyretics (paracetamol). It is also crucial for the patient to rest and drink fluids.
Patients with dengue and bleeding should be carefully observed to identify warning signs and avoid further complications, such as bleeding and pressure drop.