When I posted that Prensa Latina item on dengue cases in Brazil this morning, I thought 500,000 cases in Espirito Santo state seemed exceedingly high. But I've tended to trust Prensa Latina, except when it's reporting on cholera in its own country, Cuba.
Now, with many thanks to my Brazilian friend Carolina Marinho de Oliveira, I have more reliable numbers from the January 18 issue of Jornal Entrevista. Excerpt, with my translation:
Pelo menos 1.614 pessoas contraíram dengue e uma morreu por consequência da doença no Espírito Santo em janeiro deste ano. É o que informa o Boletim Epidemiológico da Secretaria de Estado da Saúde (Sesa), que recebeu as notificações. Do total, 35 são suspeitas da forma grave (dengue com complicação e hemorrágica), um óbito confirmado e outros dois em investigação.
At least 1,614 persons have contracted dengue and one has died as a result of the disease in Espirito Santo this January. That is the report of the Epidemiological Bulletin of the State Secretariat of Health (Sesa), which received the reports. Altogether, 35 severe cases are suspected (hemorrhagic and complicated dengue), with one death confirmed and two others still under investigation.
As informações são do período entre 30 de dezembro de 2012 e 12 de janeiro de 2013. Segundo o infectologista Paulo Peçanha, o número ainda é assustador. "Com a chegada do verão, os casos geralmente aumentam por causa das chuvas intensas intercaladas com dias de calor. Mas estamos enfrentando uma epidemia, estou notando também pelo número de atendimento nos consultórios", disse o médico.
The data are for the period between December 30, 2012 and January 12, 2013. According to infectologist Paulo Peçanha, the number is rising and worrying. "With the arrival of summer, cases generally increase because of heavy rains interspersed with hot days. But we are facing an epidemic, seeing the number of people coming to us," the doctor said.
This is confirmed by the Sesa website, which includes a link to the original bulletin of January 17. It doesn't look the website of a health agency dealing with half a million dengue cases in the past three weeks.
So I apologize for running the original item when I was already skeptical about it. I'll also try to double-check Prensa Latina reports, especially when they publish numbers like these.
