Guatemala Fights Dengue with Fumigation Campaigns

Guatemalan authorities have deployed fumigation campaigns in response to the growing number of dengue cases.

Cases during 2024 have been 5.7 the highest since 2020 according to doctor Edgar Santos, the epidemiology and risk management director of Guatemala’s Health Ministry.

Latin Americans do not have the immunological protection against this dengue serotype, Santos said, saying this strain was brought to the continent from America.

Dengue continues to be the arbovirus with the highest number of reported cases in the Americas region, with outbreaks occurring on a cyclical basis every 3 to 5 years. During the year 2024 between epidemiological weeks  1 and 16 of 2024, a total of 6,769,140 suspected cases of dengue were reported. This ígure represents an increase of 206% compared with the same period in 2023 and 387% compared with the average for the last 5 years.

In view of the exponential increase in dengue cases observed in the írst weeks of the year in several countries of the Region of the Americas, PAHO made an urgent appeal to Member States. The organization emphasized the need to intensify vector control measures and to maintain active surveillance, ensuring early diagnosis and timely treatment of cases.

Given the increase of dengue cases in the country, the MSPAS declared a National Health Emergency on 30 April, 2024, through Ministerial Agreement Number 152-2024.

The agreement underscores the responsibility of health sector institutions to carry out, within their competencies, epidemiological surveillance, outbreak investigation and entomological surveillance.

In response to the escalating epidemic, the Guatemalan government declared a national emergency in May. Over 48,000 dengue cases were officially registered between January and the third week of July.