The Ministry of Public Health issued an epidemiological alert on Wednesday against chikungunya, a viral disease transmitted through the bite of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, the same one that transmits dengue. The information was offered by the Vice Minister of Collective Health, Eladio Pérez, who assured that so far there are no cases in the country. Pérez explained that the alert is issued in a preventive mode, since, in countries of the Southern Cone, such as Brazil and Paraguay, there has been an exponential increase in affected patients.
In this context, the director of Epidemiology, Ronald Skewes, indicated that by the year 2021, in the region of the Americas, 137,000 cases of chikungunya were recorded; 271 thousand cases in 2022, and 30,707 cases during the first four weeks of 2023, marking a pattern of accelerated growth. “That it arrives in the country is a matter of time,” highlighted the doctor.
Swekes indicated that the term “chikungunya” means “The bent man”, alluding to the severe pain that this disease produces throughout the body, making it difficult to walk upright and whose conditions can persist for long months. Other symptoms are fever, rash, and general malaise.