The Hospital San Juan de Lurigancho of the Ministry of Health announced on March 13 the opening of a Clinical Surveillance Unit (Uviclin) to strengthen its response to dengue cases. The unit is the only one of its kind in East Lima and provides continuous, 24-hour monitoring for patients showing symptoms associated with dengue.
This initiative is part of the Ministry’s Dengue Prevention and Control Plan 2026. The hospital has set up eight beds equipped with mosquito nets and necessary medical equipment for patients who show warning signs and require constant clinical observation, according to Dr. Manuel Baluarte Espinoza, executive director of the hospital.
Baluarte Espinoza said, “The district of San Juan de Lurigancho has remained a strategic point for epidemiological surveillance in Metropolitan Lima. Although there was a decrease in dengue cases nationwide during 2025, this jurisdiction experienced localized outbreaks that were promptly controlled through activation of surveillance systems in areas such as Zárate, Campoy, and Huáscar.”
He also said that the hospital has a multidisciplinary team specialized in dengue surveillance, prevention, and control. Inpatient health professionals are trained to manage severe clinical cases, and a rotation system ensures ongoing monitoring and comprehensive patient care.
The main symptoms of dengue include high fever, headache, eye pain, rash, muscle pain, and joint pain. Warning signs include intense abdominal pain that persists, constant vomiting, bleeding from mucous membranes such as nose or gums, drowsiness or irritability, and general fatigue.
The Ministry urges residents to reinforce healthy practices to eliminate breeding sites for the Aedes aegypti mosquito by washing and tightly covering water containers, avoiding water in flower vases, and allowing properly identified health personnel into homes for larval control.
