The intense focus on the Covid-19 pandemic may have relegated dengue fever news to the inside pages, but there’s another good reason for that, health authorities say.
Jalisco will close the year with the lowest number of dengue cases registered in the last ten years.
According to Ministry of Health data, only 176 dengue fever infections have been confirmed in the state in 2021, along with three fatalities.
Jalisco led the nation in the number of confirmed dengue cases in 2019 and 2020. A record was set in 2019, when 11,927 cases were reported, and 108 people died from the mosquito-borne disease. Last year’s total number of confirmed cases was 5,362.
The spread of the dengue virus is always much wider than the official numbers suggest, due to the under-reporting and misdiagnosis of cases. Mild dengue causes a high fever and flu-like symptoms. The severe form of dengue fever, also called dengue hemorrhagic fever, can cause serious bleeding, a sudden drop in blood pressure (shock) and death.
Federal health authorities reportedly analyzed a further 20 suspected deaths from dengue over the course of this year, but ruled them all out.
The Jalisco municipalities of La Huerta, San Gabriel, Tonila and Tuxcacuesco have experienced the highest rate of dengue per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021,according to federal data.