There were 36 deaths in 37 days of the year, according to the State Secretariat; Ministry of Health speaks in 41 deaths
The State of São Paulo has so far recorded about one death by dengue per day in 2025. Data from the Arbovirus Panel of the State Department of Health (SES) point out that there were 36 deaths in 37 days: 14 in the region of São José do Rio Preto, 3 region of Araçatuba, 3 of Ribeirão Preto, 3 of Presidente Prudente, 3 of Bauru, 3 of Campinas, 2 of Araraquara, 1 of São João da Boa Vista, 1 of Marília, 1 from Piracicaba, 1 of Sorocaba and 1 from Taubaté. The number of deaths increases when the Ministry of Health panel is observed: 41 in 37 days.
Of the 645 municipalities of São Paulo, 53 have already decreed an emergency for dengue. In addition, of the 17 regional health departments, 13 are already in an epidemic stage. According to the director of the SES Epidemiological Surveillance Center, Tatiana Lang, the epidemic scenario across the state is close to becoming a reality. “Within the contingency plan created by the São Paulo State Government, there are three scenarios: mobilization, alert and epidemic. Within each of them, the actors involved need to act differently. Today we are on alert but as soon as we will probably be in an epidemic, ”he explains.
Data from the Ministry of Health and the State Department of Health do not match because they are accounted for differently. The State Government, before registering a death, expects the confirmation of death by the Adolfo Lutz Institute. According to the Ministry of Health, São Paulo records almost 79% of deaths in the country this year – there are 52 deaths throughout Brazil. There are also 256 deaths in research in the country – 179 in São Paulo. When we talk about cases, according to the federal government, Brazil has about 219 thousand, with 128 thousand (58%) are located in the state of São Paulo.
Tatiana Lang reinforces that the scenario is atypical and different from recent years. “At this point we have a different situation from the beginning of last year, the QJE serogroup circulated before were 1 and 2, now we have the circulation of type 2 and 3 dengues. We have more people susceptible to dengue 3, who have never caught before. This is because this serotype, for over 10 years, did not circulate this way. The signs and symptoms they are. The difference is that when a person has already caught the sorotypes 1 or 2, and picks up the 3, they can worsen the clinical picture. But that does not mean that type 3 is more serious, ”he says, also stating that it is not yet possible to identify a standard in the number of deaths recorded in the state of São Paulo.
To the Brazil Agency, the Deputy Secretary of Health and Environment Surveillance of the Ministry, Rivaldo Venâncio, said that the state of Sao Paulo left a level of almost 50 thousand cases in the first four weeks of 2024 to almost 100,000 cases in the first four Weeks of 2025. “Our concern is the Southeast. When we look at the numbers, week to week, we have the impression that the situation is quiet. But when we look at the state of Sao Paulo, we are watching, week after week, twice the number of dengue cases when compared to 2024, ”he said.
In a statement, the State Department of Health pointed out that “it created the Emergency Operations Center (COE), whose first measure was to allocate R $ 228 million from the IGM SUS Paulista Program to the 645 municipalities of São Paulo to eliminate breeding sites and, thus, Fight the dengue -causing mosquito ”and“ launched the Urban Arbovirus Contingency Plan 2025/2026, with the main strategies, actions and recommendations to combat dengue, chikungunya and zika ”. The folder also says that monitors the scenario continuously.
On January 23, when the government of Sao Paulo announced the creation of the COE, the Secretary of Health, Eleuses Paiva, predicted a “difficult year” and with “very high level of cases”. On the date, he also showed concern for type 3 dengue.
According to SES, the focus at this time is actions to eliminate breeding grounds of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, transmitter of dengue, as well as initiatives for vaccination of the priority group, children aged 10 to 14 years. The immunizer is available in 392 municipalities in the state, but the adhesion is still low – about 28% of the target audience took the first dose, and 13% to the second. Although the effect is not immediate, vaccination is important to control the disease mainly from 2026. Currently, the Butantan Institute, linked to the government of São Paulo, is also awaiting the approval of its own vaccine against dengue by Anvisa (agency National Health Surveillance) – There are good expectations.
*This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the young Pan.
