COVID-19 and dengue, co-epidemics in Ecuador and other countries in Latin America: Pushing strained health care systems over the edge

Abstract

Currently, the spread of Coronavirus-19 disease (COVID-19) from the emerging SARS-CoV-2 virus in Wuhan, China, has reached other Asian countries, Europe, North America as a pandemic situation, and has already entered Latin America with multiple implications [1]. One of these is the continuous dengue epidemic in Ecuador and other countries in 2019–2020. This period comprises a further increase in cases and one of the largest dengue outbreaks in the region with nearly 3 million cases, 8416 of them in Ecuador [2,3]. COVID-19 cases in Ecuador reached 1595 confirmed cases with 36 deaths nationwide (March 27, 2020) [4], while dengue, reached 3549 cases.