Outbreak of dengue fever in Nampula

The Health Ministry on 16 March confirmed an outbreak of dengue fever in the northern province of Nampula.

Dengue fever, also known as breakbone fever, is a disease caused by the dengue virus which is carried by mosquitoes of the aedes genus, mainly the species aedes aegypti (different from the anopheles mosquito which carries malaria).

The disease causes fever, headaches, muscle and joint pains and a skin rash. It is not normally fatal, unless it develops into dengue haemorrhagic fever.

Currently there is no vaccine against dengue fever, and treatment relies on rehydration and, in severe cases, blood transfusions.

Speaking at a Maputo press conference, the deputy national director of public health, Benigna Matsinhe, said that so far 110 cases of dengue have been diagnosed in Nampula. There have been no deaths.

Matsinhe said that protective measures against the disease are similar to those taken against malaria. The key to stopping the spread of the disease was mosquito control.

The last Mozambican outbreak was in 2014 in the neighbouring province of Cabo Delgado. Here the disease was contained, and Matsinhe said those who worked on fighting dengue in Cabo Delgado are assisting the Nampula health authorities in dealing with the disease.

Dengue fever is found on all continents except Europe, and between 50 and 100 million people are infected every year.

Matsinhe also addressed the country’s cholera outbreak, revealing that the number of new cases is declining in Nampula, Niassa and Tete provinces.

However, in the fourth province affected, Zambezia, where the outbreak started later, there has been a slight increase with 20 to 30 new cases diagnosed per day. On the positive side, the outbreak in Zambezia has not spread beyond the provincial capital, Quelimane.

Matsinhe said that a total of 6,205 cholera cases have been notified, and 49 of these patients have died. This is a lethality rate of 0.8 per cent.

She also announced that the number of malaria cases and of deaths from this disease have declined in comparison with last year’s figures.

In 2014, from the start of the year until mid-March there were 1,091,408 cases of malaria identified, leading to 448 deaths. But in the same period this year there were only 906,368 notified cases of malaria and 273 deaths.

That is a reduction of 16 per cent in the number of cases, and of 39 per cent in the number of deaths.

Matsinhe attributed this success partly to the home spraying campaigns against mosquito. She also stressed the importance of sleeping under mosquito nets. Last year, the health authorities distributed three million bed nets during ante-natal consultations and in civic education campaigns.