Chikungunya cases have risen by 167% and dengue deaths in Santa Catarina reached 60 in 2023, 71% of which were elderly, according to the latest Dive Bulletin.

Santa Catarina sees 60 dengue deaths and over 44,000 mosquito infections – Photo: Leo Munhoz/North Dakota

Among the victims, the age ranged from 10 to 105 years. Women make up the largest number, with 33 deaths compared to 27 among men.

The most recent case occurred on May 16: Alessandro Cesar de Souza, only 34 years old, student of the aquaculture engineering course at UFSC (Federal University of Santa Catarina).

Rosangela Nascimento, Alessandro’s aunt, said that the young man loved Florianopolis and was happy to live in the city. Born in Conchale, in the interior of São Paulo, the student was known to his family as a dreamer with a passion for his profession.

“He passionately loved life. It’s even hard to say. Alessandro grew up in a small town in the interior of Sao Paulo and always had big dreams,” recalls his aunt.

Alessandro’s mother, 55-year-old Ionis Marquez, is asking for more awareness to fight the disease. “Unfortunately, I was far away from him, there was nothing I could do. I always took care of her when she lived with me.”

Alessandro died at Celso Ramos Hospital in the center of Florianopolis. The body was buried in the interior of São Paulo. The UFSC even issued a note of condolence on the student’s death, expressing condolences to the student’s family and friends.

age of the victims

The youngest dengue death in the state was a 10-year-old girl who died in Barra Velha, in the Itajai Valley, on April 24. The oldest of these was a 105-year-old man in Coronel Freitas in the west of Santa Catarina, whose death was recorded on March 27.

The municipal secretariats of health, with the support of the state secretariat of health, are investigating the causes of 10 deaths, the victims of which may have contracted dengue fever.

There are 40 more confirmed cases of chikungunya, which is also transmitted by the mosquito. aedes aegypti.

44,000 mosquito outbreaks

The state has recorded 44,527 mosquito outbreaks that also cause Zika virus and yellow fever.

In total, 57,369 people in the state have already been confirmed with dengue fever. An additional 57,027 cases remain suspicious in the notification system, according to Dive.

Of the confirmed cases, 46,140 are autochthonous (with intrastate transmission) and are distributed in 125 municipalities of Santa Catarina, with 33 municipalities reaching epidemic levels.

The epidemic is characterized by the ratio of the number of confirmed cases and the population. WHO (World Health Organization) defines the level of epidemic transmission when the incidence rate exceeds 300 cases of dengue fever per 100,000 inhabitants.

Florianópolis has 8,110 confirmed cases. Of these, 10 people have already died, the last of which was Alessandro.