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Brazil’s dengue fever deaths hit records in 2023

Health workers in São Paulo during on-site visits to eradicate mosquito-breeding sites. Photo: Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil

Brazil reported a record 1,094 deaths from dengue fever in 2023, according to the Health Ministry. The previous year with the most deaths was 2022, when 1,053 deaths were recorded.

The data shows that Brazil recorded more than 1.6 million dengue cases last year, a 16 percent increase compared to 2022. Cases were recorded in more than 5,000 municipalities, or over 85 percent of the country’s municipalities.

More than 52,000 people were hospitalized for dengue in 2023.

Discussions about dengue have taken on added importance in Brazil as the number of cases and deaths continue to rise.

Last month, the Health Ministry announced the purchase and distribution of a dengue vaccine in the public health system. The vaccine, called Qdenga, is manufactured by the Japanese company Takeda.

The Health Ministry committee responsible for recommending drug purchases was initially unenthusiastic about Qdenga because of the small quantities and high prices offered by Takeda. The company initially committed to offering the vaccine only to children as young as 4 and adults as old as 55, a very small percentage of Brazil’s population.

The ministry decided to offer Qdenga to priority groups and regions rather than conduct a full-scale national vaccination campaign. According to a statement from the ministry, Takeda has committed to providing just over 5 million doses in 2024, enough to vaccinate 2.5 million people with the two-dose regimen.

Separately, the Butantan Institute, owned by the São Paulo state government, expects to complete the final phase of research on its own dengue vaccine this year.

Correction: A previous version of this post erroneously said the number of dengue cases broke a new record in 2023. This piece of information has been corrected.