Mérida, Yucatán, (August 26, 2021) .- Yucatán has been without dengue for more than three months since the only case was registered in mid-May, while in Quintana Roo it reappeared last week, reported the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (Cinvestav).
In the framework of the International Day against Dengue, it was highlighted that at least this year, in Mexico the reduction of the pathology with respect to 2020 is remarkable.
So far, there are 1,652 confirmed cases of this deadly disease nationwide, with a decrease of 75.8 percent comparing to the same period last year, when a total of 6,837 infections were detected.
In the Yucatán Peninsula, there are nine cases, of which five are from Campeche, three from Quintana Roo, and one from Yucatán, which was registered in Progreso, in epidemiological week number 19.
In the State, the decrease is 97.7 percent, since during the same period of the previous year 139 cases of Dengue were recorded.
According to Rosa María del Ángel, a specialist from the Cinvestav Department of Infectomics and Molecular Pathogenesis, “when you think about the most deadly animals for humans, insects may not appear among the first options.”
However, according to the World Health Organization, each year infectious diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks, flies, bed bugs, and fleas, among others, claim the lives of more than 700 thousand people around the world.
She explained that in the case of mosquitoes, flying insects that live on almost all continents and habitats, in addition to being small (between 2 to 19 millimeters) some species are considered one of the main threats to humanity due to viruses. and parasites they transmit.
She commented that only in the American continent dengue, malaria, yellow fever, and Chikungunya (all transmitted by mosquitoes) are among the 10 main infectious diseases that put the health of half the world population at risk.
So far, more than 3,500 species of mosquitoes are known, most of them pollinate plants (they feed on nectar and sap) and are the food of various animals such as spiders, fish, and bats, she said.
She mentioned that only the females of 200 species of these winged insects feed on blood, including that of humans, in order to obtain the necessary energy to produce their eggs and deposit them in an aquatic environment, where they will become larvae, pupae, and finally adults.
The females of this mosquito can live both inside and around the houses, they feed preferentially on the blood of humans and usually bite a few hours before sunset and during the first hours of dawn, but if there is artificial light they also do it at night.
She stressed that the species that feed on blood, a smaller amount represents a public health problem. Two of them, Aedes aegypti (originally from Africa) and Aedes albopictus (from Asia) are capable of transmitting viruses such as dengue, Zika, Chikungunya and yellow fever, among others, to humans.
The specialist added that the Aedes aegypti or Egyptian mosquito is the main transmitter of dengue and currently inhabits tropical and subtropical regions, as well as areas located below 1,000 meters above sea level, although its presence has also been recorded at a higher altitude.
Mexico is one of the countries where diseases such as dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya represent a challenge for public health.
Even since there are currently no vaccines for most infections transmitted by mosquitoes, the only way to protect yourself is to avoid their bite by using repellents, insecticides, mosquito nets and have spaces such as gardens and patios free of stagnant water or containers where females can lay their eggs.
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