Argentina Detects Dengue Fever Cases Amid COVID-19 Surge

Misiones Province's Health Secretary Oscar Alarcon Thursday confirmed the first cases of dengue fever amid the COVID-19-related health emergency in Argentina. 

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"We are in an inter-breeding phase where the notifications of new cases are minimal. We are working hard on patients who tested positive," Alarcon said.

Argentina's Health Ministry announced a comprehensive prevention plan that includes training to local governments to reduce dengue's impact during the upcoming summer and awareness campaigns among the population to promote cleaning tasks at home.

In the 2019-2020 season, health authorities reported the worst outbreak of dengue fever in the country's history, recording over 96,000 infections and at least 24 deaths. 

"After having gone through a major outbreak in the previous season, it is important to intensify prevention and focus on epidemiological surveillance and timely detection of suspicious cases," Epidemiology Director Andrea Jait said.

Representing a risk of outbreaks of other diseases such as Zika and Chikungunya, the confirmation of dengue fever cases comes at a time when the country is experiencing a second surge of COVID-19 cases.

A recent report published by PLOS Pathogens showed that COVID-19 antibodies were detected in more than 90 percent of patients as of the third week of the beginning of the symptoms. In some cases, the appearance of antibodies was late, while 5 percent of patients suffered from the novel coronavirus without the detection of antibodies. 

As of Friday morning, Argentina confirmed 1,770,715 COVID-19 cases and 45,125 deaths.