Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://www.teletica.com/nacional/p...-enfrenta-a-los-cuatro-tipos-de-dengue_319442
For the first time in history, Costa Rica faces the four types of dengue
Authorities hope that the first results of the type 4 case, which was detected yesterday in the country, will be ready today.
By Juan Jose Herrera | September 9, 2022, 15:15 PM
For the first time in history, Costa Rica registers cases, at the same time, of the four types of dengue virus.
This had never happened in the country since the first case was detected in 1993.
The authorities of the Ministry of Health announced, this Thursday, the detection of a minor patient with serotype 4, whose last record dates back to the year 2000.
Why does that cause concern?
“Dengue is a disease that has been in Costa Rica since 1993 and has four serotypes: 1, 2, 3 and 4, as if they were first cousins, so the person who gets dengue of some kind acquires lifelong immunity for that serotype, or at least long lasting, but for the rest it gives you immunity for about six months.
“Having so much circulation of dengue in Costa Rica and, when a serotype like 4 appears, which has not appeared in humans in Costa Rica since 2000, it is a big risk because the more times it hits you, the greater the risk of developing severe dengue. , it is important to say it that way, "said Rodrigo Marín, director of Health Surveillance.
Severe dengue, which in the history of Costa Rica has claimed 23 lives, is a much more severe symptomatology of the virus, which can even cause organ failure.
Marín specifies that this serotype, by itself, does not represent a different risk for the population, but that this scarce circulation causes a very low immunity for Costa Rica.
“It is not that this is worse than all, but because the population is not immunized, there are many people sensitive to this serotype, this can generate new cases and since we have so many people who have already had dengue (around 400,000 since 1993), because these can be sensitive to developing a serious pathology”, he said.
In Costa Rica, serotypes 1 and 2 are the ones that circulate “normally”, although type 3 has been occasional in recent years. Weeks ago, a case of the latter was detected in a patient who traveled to Mexico, so it was classified as imported.
In the case of serotype 4, the patient remains under investigation and it is expected that this afternoon the preliminary results of that analysis will be available, which will allow determining if it is an imported case and if there is a risk of an outbreak or not.
“We are working on the investigation, the case was notified yesterday and we are working on that issue. We want to know if there are additional contacts and today in the afternoon we hope to have results”, added the specialist.
Regardless of the result of that investigation, Marín announced that the authorities will intensify prevention and fumigation campaigns against the virus, precisely to mitigate the possible spread of this and other serotypes.
“With total security, the measures will be increased, now, if the case is imported and the level of contact that the scenario has had is different, but due to the issue of risk that we are announcing, with more than 400,000 people who have suffered from the disease and that could be up to 10 times more for asymptomatic or unregistered cases, decisions must be made, "concluded Marín.
For the first time in history, Costa Rica faces the four types of dengue
Authorities hope that the first results of the type 4 case, which was detected yesterday in the country, will be ready today.
By Juan Jose Herrera | September 9, 2022, 15:15 PM
For the first time in history, Costa Rica registers cases, at the same time, of the four types of dengue virus.
This had never happened in the country since the first case was detected in 1993.
The authorities of the Ministry of Health announced, this Thursday, the detection of a minor patient with serotype 4, whose last record dates back to the year 2000.
Why does that cause concern?
“Dengue is a disease that has been in Costa Rica since 1993 and has four serotypes: 1, 2, 3 and 4, as if they were first cousins, so the person who gets dengue of some kind acquires lifelong immunity for that serotype, or at least long lasting, but for the rest it gives you immunity for about six months.
“Having so much circulation of dengue in Costa Rica and, when a serotype like 4 appears, which has not appeared in humans in Costa Rica since 2000, it is a big risk because the more times it hits you, the greater the risk of developing severe dengue. , it is important to say it that way, "said Rodrigo Marín, director of Health Surveillance.
Severe dengue, which in the history of Costa Rica has claimed 23 lives, is a much more severe symptomatology of the virus, which can even cause organ failure.
Marín specifies that this serotype, by itself, does not represent a different risk for the population, but that this scarce circulation causes a very low immunity for Costa Rica.
“It is not that this is worse than all, but because the population is not immunized, there are many people sensitive to this serotype, this can generate new cases and since we have so many people who have already had dengue (around 400,000 since 1993), because these can be sensitive to developing a serious pathology”, he said.
In Costa Rica, serotypes 1 and 2 are the ones that circulate “normally”, although type 3 has been occasional in recent years. Weeks ago, a case of the latter was detected in a patient who traveled to Mexico, so it was classified as imported.
In the case of serotype 4, the patient remains under investigation and it is expected that this afternoon the preliminary results of that analysis will be available, which will allow determining if it is an imported case and if there is a risk of an outbreak or not.
“We are working on the investigation, the case was notified yesterday and we are working on that issue. We want to know if there are additional contacts and today in the afternoon we hope to have results”, added the specialist.
Regardless of the result of that investigation, Marín announced that the authorities will intensify prevention and fumigation campaigns against the virus, precisely to mitigate the possible spread of this and other serotypes.
“With total security, the measures will be increased, now, if the case is imported and the level of contact that the scenario has had is different, but due to the issue of risk that we are announcing, with more than 400,000 people who have suffered from the disease and that could be up to 10 times more for asymptomatic or unregistered cases, decisions must be made, "concluded Marín.