Honduras and Nicaragua lead the list of the seven Central American countries with the most cases of dengue in the first half of 2024, according to figures from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) published in its place web.
Honduras ranks first in dengue cases with 91,690 infections, of which 1,203 are severe dengue, according to official records; while Nicaragua ranks second with 55,542 cases in total. Other Central American countries such as Costa Rica report some 16,806 infections and Panama, some 16,149. Belize has a report of 4,700 cases.
Dengue causes mild or no symptoms and resolves in one to two weeks, but severe cases can cause death, PAHO warns. People who are infected a second time are generally at greater risk of the disease becoming more severe.
Symptoms of severe dengue usually appear when the fever disappears and are different from common dengue because they include bleeding from the gums or nose, intense abdominal pain, persistent vomiting of blood, rapid breathing, among others.
Climate change spreads dengue
In a recent interview, Dr. José Luis San Martín, regional advisor on arboviral diseases at PAHO, explained to the Voice of America that the increase in dengue cases in most countries in the Americas is due, among other main causes, to climatic factors that play a crucial role in the distribution, behavior, survival and transmission of vector mosquitoes.
“Climate change, which intensifies precipitation and raises temperatures, has favored the accelerated proliferation of vectors, shortening the development period of mosquitoes and the virus within them, and increasing the frequency of bites, which facilitates the spread of the virus,” the doctor told the VOA.
The specialist concluded that there have been other factors associated with the increase in cases, such as rapid unplanned urban expansion and population growth, combined with deficiencies in water and sanitation services, as well as insufficient community participation.
In Central America, dengue cases continue to spread at high rates. In 2023, more than 340,000 people became ill with dengue in the region; the country with the most infections was Nicaragua with 181,096, followed by Guatemala with 72,358, Costa Rica with 30,649, and Panama with 20,924. El Salvador registered 5,799 infections and Belize 1,688.
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