07232016Sat
Last updateFri, 22 Jul 2016 8am

Dengue back on front burner

The consistent rains have brought a sudden spike in the number of possible dengue cases being reported in Jalisco.

Health Secretary Jorge Manuel Sánchez González this week announced the first fatality of 2016 from the virus – a 51-year-old man from Tomatlan.

The number of “probable” cases this year has risen to 3,837, Sánchez González told media representatives Monday. This is almost double the figure predicted at the same time last year: 2,119.

The official number of confirmed cases of dengue this year is 321.  Last year’s final total of confirmed cases was 2,998.

The first vaccine against dengue, approved for use in December last year by Mexico’s regulatory health agency, the Protección Contra Riesgos Sanitarios (Cofepris), is likely to go on sale in the country by September, a representative of Sanofi Pasteur said this week.  Dengvaxia will be suitable for use in individuals from 9-45 years of age living in endemic areas, according the World Health Organization.  In clinical trials, Dengvaxia was shown to eliminate eight out of ten hospitalizations for dengue.

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