Dengue cases are skyrocketing in Argentina. In the first 10 weeks of 2024, health authorities detected just over 11 times more cases than in the same period of 2023. To date, 69 people have died this year.

While there is a vaccine available, the government is not currently planning to add it to the mandatory immunization schedule, which would make it free and widely accessible.

During the first 10 weeks of 2023, only eight thousand cases had been registered. But, according to the latest National Epidemiological Bulletin published over the weekend, 102,898 dengue cases were registered between January 1 and March 10. 

The peak this season was in the ninth week of 2024 (February 26-March 3) with 18,991 cases. The date matches the mosquito invasion that struck Buenos Aires in mid-February.

Most patients have not traveled recently, meaning they caught the disease in Argentina.

Strikingly, Argentina detected cases throughout the entire 2023/2024 season, including during winter, when the mosquito-borne disease usually subsides. The report shows a steady increase in early October, showing how peak season started sooner.

A vaccine against dengue, known as Qdenga, has been available in Argentina since November. It consists of two doses that should be applied three months apart. For now, it is only available on prescription and costs around AR$70,000. However, certain healthcare providers offer a 40% discount.

In Argentina, vaccines included in the mandatory immunization schedule are free, but the government said they do not plan to add the dengue vaccine for the moment.

“This issue is being constantly monitored by the health ministry, and if there is a need to change the schedule, we will do it,” Presidential Spokesman Manuel Adorni said on Monday.

“Applying [the vaccine] now would mean people would be immunized in four months, when the mosquitoes are not a problem anymore,” he said. 

He added that “the vaccine’s effectiveness has not been proven yet” and that the government is not planning to conduct a dengue awareness campaign. 

ANMAT, Argentina’s food and medicine safety institution, approved the vaccine’s use in people over the age of four in April 2023. Studies show the vaccine has an overall 72% efficacy. “Immunity is almost immediate, and it lasts for a long time,” biologist Ernesto Resnik wrote on X. “Vaccinating is helping people now and later.”