The city of São Paulo recorded the largest dengue outbreak in its history in 2024, with 623,437 confirmed cases and 475 deaths. Data from the Municipal Health Department (SMS) show that the numbers exceeded the previous record, from 2015, by 6 times, when there were 103,186 cases and 25 deaths. The information is from
The incidence of the disease reached 5,192.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, 17 times above the epidemic limit established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health, of 300 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
According to the Sheet, the most affected districts were Jaguara, in the west zone, with 15,253.2 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants; São Miguel, in the east zone, with 14,534.8 cases; and Itaim Paulista, also in the east zone, with 10,112.5 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants. Paraíba, in the central region, recorded the lowest incidence, with 1,459.7 cases per 100 thousand inhabitants.
SMS intensified combat actions in 2024, carrying out more than 11 million interventions that included home visits, guidance to the population, nebulization and the use of drones to apply larvicides. More than 12 thousand health agents were mobilized to identify and eliminate outbreaks of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
Vaccine in development
The Butantan Institute is awaiting approval from the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) for the world’s first single-dose vaccine against dengue. Meanwhile, only people between 10 and 14 years old can receive the current vaccine through the Unified Health System (SUS).
In addition to dengue, Aedes aegypti also transmits chikungunya and zika viruses. In 2024, São Paulo confirmed 30 cases of chikungunya, with one death. The municipality has not recorded indigenous cases of Zika virus since 2018.
