Dengue is a widely disseminated arboviral disease in Brazil, with expansion into previously non-endemic regions, such as the south of the country. In this context, the objective is to describe the epidemiological profile of dengue in the population of the state of Santa Catarina (SC) in the period from 2015 to 2024. This is a retrospective study with data from the Diretoria de Vigilância Epidemiológica de SC, collected through the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN). Confirmed cases in the New* Classification were included, in the macro-regions of residence in SC between January 2015 and December 2024. The analyzed variables were year/month, sex, age group, macro-region of residence, cases, and deaths. Standardized rates of mortality, lethality, and incidence per 100,000 inhabitants were calculated in Excel. Fisher’s exact test (Jamovi 2.3.28, p<0.05) evaluated the association between sex, age, and outcome. Thematic maps of incidence and lethality were prepared in QGIS. Between 2015–2024, 556,695 cases and 414 deaths were confirmed. Most cases occurred in April (35.6%), in the Northeast and Planalto Norte macro-region (39.7%), in adults aged 20 to 29 years (19.0%), and in females (52.1%). The incidence rate fell 51.6% from 2015 to 2019, but rose 14,869.5% up to 2024, with a peak of 3,875.9 cases/100,000 inhabitants. Maps showed progressive expansion of the disease, with increased incidence and lethality in macro-regions from 2022 onwards, reaching three crosses of lethality in the “Serra Catarinense” and “Vale do Rio Itajaí” macro-regions in 2023. In 2024, there were 274 deaths (mortality: 3.4/100,000 inhabitants). An association was observed between sex and death (χ² = 7.4; p=0.006), with higher risk among men (OR = 1.3; 95% CI: 1.1–1.6). Age was also associated with the outcome (χ² = 3,936; df = 10; p<0.001), with increased lethality ≥60 years, especially ≥80 years. Severe and fatal cases intensified from 2022 onwards. Dengue in SC showed a strong increase in incidence and mortality since 2019, with predominance of cases in young women and in the Northeast/Planalto Norte regions. However, men and older adults had higher risk of death. The use of secondary data imposes limitations, such as underreporting. Although there was an association between sex and death, confounding factors were not adjusted for.
Carioni et al. (Sun,) studied this question.