03/20/2024 – 14:34
The dengue vaccines that were not used by the municipalities selected in this initial vaccination stage will be distributed to other cities in the coming days. The information was announced by the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade, in a press conference held this Wednesday, 20.
According to the minister, the definition of which municipalities will receive the vaccines will be based on a ranking of needs among the municipalities that have declared a health emergency due to the disease. She informed that more details will be released in the coming days.
According to the head of the department, a new budget of R$300 million will be released for states and municipalities to purchase medicines used to treat dengue fever.
Also during the press conference, the Secretary of Health and Environmental Surveillance, Ethel Maciel, updated data on the disease. To date, more than 1.9 million probable dengue cases have been registered in the country in 2024, which represents an incidence of 954 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants. There are 630 confirmed deaths and more than a thousand under investigation.
Vaccination
In February, the Ministry of Health began distributing Qdenga, a vaccine against dengue produced by the Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda. As the number of doses is limited, the public to be vaccinated was restricted to young people aged 10 to 14 from 521 municipalities, in 16 States, in addition to the Federal District.
With the increase in the number of cases, municipalities that were not initially included began to demand the sending of vaccines. This is the case of the city of São Paulo, which declared a health emergency due to the disease last Monday, 18th. According to the SP Health Department, four letters were sent to the Ministry of Health asking for the release of doses for the municipality.
It is worth highlighting that the fight against dengue is not restricted to immunization, according to the Ministry of Health. This is because two doses are required, offered at an interval of three months. In other words, the measure is not seen as a solution to this year's epidemic, as the minister has been highlighting.
It is essential, at this time, to prevent the proliferation of Aedes Aegypti, the mosquito that transmits the disease. This is done mainly by controlling places with stagnant water, such as water tanks and old tires, which are breeding grounds for the vector.
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