40,000 Dengue Fever Cases, 32 Deaths in Brazilian State of Bahia
Pastor Dale Morgan
40,000 Dengue Fever Cases, 32 Deaths in Brazilian State of Bahia*
BRASILIA – The number of people infected with dengue in the state of
Bahia so far this year has reached 40,000 with 32 deaths, according to
figures released Saturday by health authorities in this northeastern
Brazilian region.
Up to 10 days ago, the state of Bahia had a little more than 32,000
cases of the disease, which is resurgent in some areas of the state’s
interior like the city of Itabuma, which has about 210,000 inhabitants
of whom approximately 9,000 have been infected and nine have died.
In Salvador, the state capital, 352 cases of dengue have been confirmed,
although to date no fatalities have been reported.
The latest national count, released last week by the Health Ministry,
identified the state of Bahia as the region with the highest incidence
of the disease so far this year.
Nonetheless, it also said that the number of dengue cases confirmed this
year nationwide is 28.6 percent less than the number registered in the
first quarter of 2008, when the number reached 160,137.