A study by Brazilian researchers showed that people with dengue fever were more likely to develop symptoms of Covid-19 when contaminated by the disease. The research is based on the analysis of blood samples from 1,285 residents of the city of Mâncio Lima (AC) in the Amazon region.
The work, coordinated by Professor Marcelo Urbano Ferreira from USP (University of São Paulo) and funded by Fapesp (Foundation for State Research Support of São Paulo), was published in the journal on May 6th Clinical Infectious Diseases. Here is the full one (994 KB).
“ We report an increased risk of clinically overt Covid-1
9 in people in the Amazon with a history of dengue infection with important public health implications ”Says the conclusion of the published research.
The blood samples used in the study were collected and compared in two moments: in November 2019 and in November 2020. The material was subjected to tests with which antibodies against the 4 dengue serotypes and also against the new coronavirus could be detected.
“ These data suggest that there is an interaction between the dengue and Covid-19 epidemics making each other worse in what has been commonly referred to as the union. Both affect the most vulnerable populations ”Said Ferreira.
“ Through statistical analysis, we concluded that previous infection with the dengue virus did not change a person’s risk of contracting Sars-CoV-2. On the other hand, it was clear that those who had dengue fever in the past were more likely to have symptoms once they were infected with the new coronavirus “Said Vanessa Nicolete, a researcher at the USP Institute of Biomedical Sciences and one of the authors of the article.
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