The diseases that the Aedes aegypti mosquito spread in Brazil are getting worse. New reports suggest that more babies are born with microcephaly while dengue cases are also rising.

Microcephaly & Dengue in Brazil

The Zika virus first hit Brazil and it is giving the country additional reasons to struggle. The Wall street Journal reported that the number of dengue cases and children born with microcephaly, a condition where a child is born with a smaller head circumference, continue to grow.

Zika and Microcephaly

The Zika virus arrived in Brazil two years ago. At that time, only 147 microcephaly cases were reported in the country. Last year, when the Zika virus outbreak started and the ministry obliged for microcephaly notifications, a total of 641 cases were confirmed.

On Tuesday, Brazil's health ministry announced 58 additional cases of newborns with microcephaly. Per Fortune, there are allegations about underreporting the figures. The Ministry of Health reported 462 microcephaly cases in early 2015, but the World Health Organization said that they're at least 6,000 cases annually.

This condition has been linked to Zika virus. In fact, the virus was spotted in 82 of those cases. However, these claims still lack scientific evidence.

Latin Post previously reported that the Zika virus might cause more serious damage than microcephaly. Two Brazilian babies died with signs of microcephaly. Both have underdeveloped heads and brains. The health professional found evidence of the Zika virus in the newborns' tissues.

"This is the strongest evidence to date that Zika is the cause of microcephaly," Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told USA Today. However, he noted that it still needs more testing to confirm if the virus causes the birth defect.

In addition, the virus has the potential to damage fetuses that may lead to stillbirth.

Dengue Cases in Brazil

According to The Wall Street Journal, there are 170,103 suspected cases of dengue in the country. If this is confirmed, the figure shows a 46 percent rise from the reported dengue cases of the same period last year, where the figure was 116,452. Overall, there were 1.65 million dengue cases in Brazil in 2015.

The country has been plagued with a dengue epidemic for decades now. Although it is still present, health officials announced that the death rates due to dengue had reduced. Since Feb. 9, only nine dengue-related deaths were reported nationwide, compared to 103 cases in the previous year.

The health authorities believe that medical team's increased preparation and quick response aided in this progress. Moreover, public awareness also encourages more patients to seek medication as soon as possible.