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Although historical records suggest that Dengue fever has been endemic in South and Central America and the Caribbean for centuries, it was all but eliminated by an intensive Yellow Fever eradication campaign organized by PAHO in the late 1940s.
According to the 2002 paper Dengue in the Americas by Mary E Wilson and Lin H Chen:
Records show no evidence of epidemic dengue in the Americas from 1946 through 1963, presumably reflecting in part the benefits from the eradication programme. In areas where Aedes aegypti was eliminated, transmission of dengue virus was interrupted.
Support for programmes waned and vector control activities declined allowing the mosquito to reinfest areas where it had been eliminated and to spread to areas where it had never previously been recorded.
Aedes aegypti was repeatedly introduced from areas where the vector was not controlled.
Dengue re-emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, initially affecting Jamaica, then Puerto Rico, other Caribbean islands,and Venezuela. Subsequently, dengue was reported from at least 43 countries in the region.
Over the past half century the disease has literally exploded in the Americas – often infecting millions of people each year. The growth of Dengue around the world is well illustrated by the following graph from the World Health Organization.
Since the 1950s a rare, but far more serious form of the disease – DHF or (Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever) – has also emerged. The WHO now estimates there may be as many as 50 million dengue infections each year (Dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever fact sheet).
In 2009, Honduras saw their worst dengue season in more than a decade, resulting in 12 deaths. The following year, 83 people died. While Dengue outbreaks tend to be cyclical, once again Honduras is facing a dengue epidemic, and yesterday declared a state of emergency.
Honduras declares state of emergency due to dengue fever
English.news.cn 2013-07-31 10:56:13
TEGUCIGALPA, July 30 (Xinhua) -- The Honduran government declared a state of emergency Tuesday due to the spread of dengue fever, which has killed 16 people this year and infected more than 12,000, local media reported.
Dengue has affected more than half of all the municipalities in Honduras. Out of the 12,135 reported cases, 1,839 are suspected to be of the fatal hemorrhagic variety, which can lead to shock and internal bleeding.
Minister of Health Salvador Pineda said five cities, including the capital of Tegucigalpa and its surrounding central district, had the largest number of Dengue cases.
Pineda declared a national priority to control mosquitoes and prevent them from transmitting dengue.
He said more than 4 million U.S. dollars were needed to control the nationwide epidemic effectively and that his ministry would seek coordinated efforts from other government institutions.
Honduras is no stranger to dengue outbreaks. In 2009, a dozen of people were killed by hemorrhagic dengue, with more than 66,700 people infected. In 2010, the disease killed 83 people.
In late June, PAHO issued the following epidemiological alert for the Americas on Dengue:
Epidemiological Alert:
Dengue
June 21, 2013
The Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO / WHO) ecommended to Member States that entered the rainy season where there greater transmission of dengue, such as Mexico and those in Central and Caribbean continue their preparedness and response efforts, based on the lessons learned and using the approach of Integrated Management Strategy (IMS) for the prevention and control, with emphasis on reducing deaths from this disease.
Current Situation
During the year 2013 and to epidemiological week (EW) 21, in the region of the Americas were 868 653 cases of dengue, 8,406 cases of severe dengue and 346 deaths (case fatality 1 0.04%). With the circulation of the 4 serotypes in the region, increases the risk of severe forms of dengue. The breakdown of the number of cases, cases serious, deaths and circulating serotypes are available on our website.
In the first half of 2013, outbreaks of dengue in Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic. In places like Peru, cases recorded in areas where there had been no indigenous cases of dengue before.
Given the usual behavior of dengue in the region, is expected to in the coming months to register an increase in cases in Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean, which coincides with the rainy season in these countries.
The purpose of this alert is to reiterate to member states that they will enter the period increased transmission of dengue, to continue their coordination efforts with other sectors 3, Based on the activities identified in the national and EGI-dengue in comprehensive plans outbreak response. They also recommended that the services fit health for a greater flow of patients as well as to strengthen and provide one upgrade to detect warning signs and clinical management of dengue cases health personnel.
The most recent numbers from PAHO on Dengue in the Americas for 2013 show well over 1.3 million cases in the first half of the year.
The World Health Organization’s Dengue and Severe Dengue Fact Sheet highlights the following points about the disease.
Key facts
- Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection.
- The infection causes flu-like illness, and occasionally develops into a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue.
- The global incidence of dengue has grown dramatically in recent decades.
- About half of the world's population is now at risk.
- Dengue is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas.
- Severe dengue is a leading cause of serious illness and death among children in some Asian and Latin American countries.
- There is no specific treatment for dengue/ severe dengue, but early detection and access to proper medical care lowers fatality rates below 1%.
- Dengue prevention and control solely depends on effective vector control measures.
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