Large outbreak of dengue fever in Bolivia – thousands of infections US is already threatened with non-payment between July and September

Bolivia has been hit by a major outbreak of dengue fever. Authorities have reported thousands of infections and more than 25 deaths since the beginning of the year. Hospitals, especially in the particularly affected department of Santa Cruz in the east of the South American country, were reaching their limits, the Bolivian news agency “ABI” reported Wednesday (local time), citing health authorities.

Dozens of hospital beds would now become available there and extra doctors and nursing staff would be deployed. Children are particularly affected, it said. In Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the capital of the department, more than half of the dengue patients in the clinics are minors.

According to the travel and security information of the Foreign Ministry in Berlin, the number of cases of dengue is currently twice as high as last year in Bolivia. Dengue viruses can therefore be transmitted in large parts of the country by diurnal Aedes mosquitoes.

The disease is usually accompanied by fever, rash and severe body aches. Serious complications can occur, especially in children. Dengue occurs in the tropics and subtropics of all continents. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), three billion people live in dengue risk areas. (aeg/sda/dpa)