City records more than 2,000 confirmed cases and 8 deaths; vaccination starts on Monday (Apr 27)
The advancement of the chikungunya epidemic in the municipality of Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, caused the city hall to declare a public health calamity. The cases, previously concentrated in the Dourados Indigenous Reserve, are now also registered in the city’s neighborhoods.
On March 20, Mayor Marçal Filho (PSDB) had already issued a decree declaring public health in the municipality. A week later, he issued another decree, declaring a civil defense emergency in areas affected by chikungunya cases.
In a note, the city hall informed that the third decree follows guidelines from the Public Health Emergency Operations Center, created to coordinate the fight against the epidemic in the indigenous reserve and in the urban perimeter of the municipality.
The statement also cites a critical epidemiological scenario in Dourados, with a high number of chikungunya notifications, exceeding 6,186 probable cases, in addition to a positivity rate for the disease of 64.9%.
According to the note, data from the municipality’s Regulatory Complex Management Department were also taken into consideration, which demonstrate the extrapolation of installed capacity, with an occupancy rate of hospitalization beds of approximately 110%, which represents “impossibility of timely assistance response even for serious cases”, states the statement.
The public health calamity decree is valid for 90 days.
Vaccination
The vaccination campaign against chikungunya in Dourados is expected to begin next Monday (27 April). The first truck with doses arrived in the municipality on April 17.
This Wednesday (April 22) and Thursday (April 23), the city hall will work on training nursing professionals to inform the population about restrictions on the vaccine and to identify any comorbidities before administering the dose.
Rules defined by the Ministry of Health propose that only people over 18 and under 60 can receive the vaccine. The goal is to vaccinate at least 27% of the target population, which corresponds to around 43 thousand people.
The dose cannot be applied in the following cases:
- pregnant or breastfeeding women;
- people who use immunosuppressive medications, such as high-dose corticosteroids;
- people with congenital immunodeficiency;
- people undergoing cancer treatment using chemotherapy and radiotherapy;
- in solid organ transplant recipients;
- bone marrow transplants less than two years ago;
- people with HIV/AIDS;
- people with autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis;
- people with at least two chronic medical conditions, including diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, cardiac arrhythmia, chronic lung disease, chronic kidney disease, obesity, chronic liver disease and cancer (in treatment or in remission).
The vaccine also cannot be administered to people who have had chikungunya in the last 30 days; who are in a severe fever; who has received another attenuated virus vaccine in the last 28 days; and/or who have received an inactivated virus vaccine in the last 14 days.
The city hall’s expectation is that immunization will happen more slowly, since, before receiving the dose, the target audience needs to be evaluated by a health professional. On Friday (April 24), the vaccines will be distributed to all vaccination rooms in the municipality, including indigenous health units.
The calendar also foresees vaccination action in the drive-thru format on the May 1st holiday, Labor Day, from 8am to 12pm, in the courtyard of Dourados City Hall.
Approved by the National Health Surveillance Agency in April 2025, the chikungunya vaccine begins to be administered strategically in regions with a potential risk of transmitting the disease over the next few years. Around 20 municipalities, from six states, should be covered.
“The selection of municipalities considered everything from epidemiological factors, related to the potential occurrence of chikungunya cases in regions where the virus is already circulating, to the population size of the municipalities and the operational ease of implementing a new vaccine in the local health system in the short term”informed the city hall.
Numbers
As of Monday (April 20), Dourados recorded 4,972 probable cases of the disease, of which 2,074 were confirmed cases, in addition to 1,212 discarded cases and another 2,900 cases under investigation. To date, 8 deaths have been confirmed due to complications from chikungunya, 7 of which were among residents of the indigenous reserve.
Federal transfer
At the end of March, the Ministry of Health released R$900,000 for chikungunya surveillance, assistance and control actions in Dourados. In a note, the agency informed that the amount will be transferred in a single installment from the National Health Fund to the municipal fund.
“The resources can be used to intensify strategies such as health surveillance, control of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, qualification of assistance and support for teams that work directly to serve the population”informed the ministry.
About chikungunya
Chikungunya is an arbovirus whose etiological agent is transmitted through the bite of infected females of the Aedes genus. In Brazil, to date, the vector involved in transmission is Aedes aegypti.
The virus was introduced to the American continent in 2013 and was responsible for an epidemic in several Central American countries and the Caribbean islands.
In the second half of 2014, Brazil confirmed, using laboratory methods, the presence of the disease in Amapá and Bahia. Currently, all states record transmission of the arbovirus.
In 2023, the ministry cites an important territorial spread of the virus in the country, mainly in States in the Southeast Region. Previously, the highest incidences of chikungunya were concentrated in the Northeast.
The main clinical characteristics of the infection are edema and disabling joint pain, but extra-articular manifestations can also occur. Severe cases of chikungunya may require hospitalization and lead to death.
This text was originally by Brazil Agencyon April 22, 2026. The content is free for republication, the source is cited, and has been adapted to the standard of Poder360.
