Dengue awareness campaign held nationwide
This year, the campaign raises additional red flags as the Zika virus has been correlated to a growing number of microcephaly cases in the country.
The D for Dengue Day on Saturday (Nov. 21) engaged people in cities across the country with campaigns to prevent the spread of Aedes aegypti, a mosquito that can transmit the dengue, chikungunya, and Zika fevers.
This year, the campaign raises additional red flags as the Zika virus has been correlated to a growing number of microcephaly cases in the country. Microcephaly is a congenital malformation with poor brain development. In the first half of this year, Zika cases were recorded in 14 Brazilian states.
According to Claudio Maierovitch, head of the Health Ministry Department for Communicable Diseases, there is a close connection between the Zika virus spread and microcephaly cases in some Northeast states.
“The babies of two pregnant women infected with Zika virus in the amniotic fluid have been diagnosed with microcephaly. This strongly suggests a connection between the two things. But we shouldn't rule out other possible causes at this point. We're not going to establish for certain that the disease was caused by the Zika virus yet,” Maierovitch said at a news conference on Tuesday (Nov. 17).
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Dengue awareness campaign held nationwide
