In the 3 years since this essay was written Dengue has become a much bigger story, and so this blog has covered it numerous times, including the epidemic in Puerto Rico, outbreaks in Central & South America, Australia, Hong Kong and India.
To see the latest Dengue-related Posts click this link.
# 1147
While certainly not as deadly as Bird Flu, and limited by it's mode of transmission (via mosquitos), Dengue Fever is a growing concern both here in the United States and around the world. While only a handful of cases have been reported in the US, the recent surge in cases in Central and South America have officials watching the situation carefully.
Known as bone-break fever, classic Dengue produces a painful week-long bout of flu-like symptoms before resolving, although a Hemorrhagic form of the disease can be deadly. Hemorrhagic Dengue accounts for less than 5% of the cases, but that number appears to be growing.
Dengue Fever Surges in Latin America
September 30, 2007 - 3:51am
By MICHAEL MELIA
Associated Press Writer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Dengue fever is spreading across Latin America and the Caribbean in one of the worst outbreaks in decades, causing agonizing joint pain for hundreds of thousands of people and killing nearly 200 so far this year.
The mosquitoes that carry dengue are thriving in expanded urban slums scattered with water-collecting trash and old tires. Experts say dengue is approaching record levels this year as many countries enter their wettest months.
"If we do not slow it down, it will intensify and take a greater social and economic toll on these countries," said Dr. Jose Luis San Martin, head of anti-dengue efforts for the Pan American Health Organization, a regional public health agency.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has posted advisories this year for people visiting Latin American and Caribbean destinations to use mosquito repellant and stay inside screened areas whenever possible.
"The danger is that the doctors at home don't recognize the dengue," said Dr. Wellington Sun, the chief of the CDC's dengue branch in San Juan. "The doctors need to raise their level of suspicion for any traveler who returns with a fever."
Dengue has already damaged the economies of countries across the region by driving away tourists, according to a document prepared for a PAHO conference beginning Monday in Washington.
Some countries have focused mosquito eradication efforts on areas popular with tourists. Mexico sent hundreds of workers to the resorts of Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and Acapulco this year to try to avert outbreaks.
Health ministers from across the region meet at the PAHO conference and San Martin said he will urge them to devote more resources to dengue fever.
The tropical virus was once thought to have been nearly eliminated from Latin America, but it has steadily gained strength since the early 1980s. Now, officials fear it could emerge as a pandemic similar to one that became a leading killer of children in Southeast Asia following World War II.
Officials say the virus is likely to grow deadlier in part because tourism and migration are circulating four different strains across the region. A person exposed to one strain may develop immunity to that strain _ but subsequent exposure to another strain makes it more likely the person will develop the hemorrhagic form.
(Cont.)
Many of us in the United States and Europe live under the illusion that it can't happen here. Tropical diseases like Dengue, Chikungunya, Yellow Fever, and Malaria are concerns for third world countries, but not for western societies.
Earlier this summer, residents in Emilia-Romagna region of Italy discovered they weren't immune when more than 250 residents contracted Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne disease commonly found in the Indian Ocean.
The truth is, it can happen here.
In many parts of Europe and the United States, the proper vectors (Aedes mosquitos) are plentiful, and travelers returning from areas where these diseases are endemic can easily introduce them to new areas.
Once established in an area, these diseases can be very difficult to contain or eradicate.
All the more reason we should be strengthening our public health agencies. While pandemic influenza gets most of the headlines, there are dozens of real pathogenic threats out there, and our public health departments are our first line of defense against them.
