Dengue infections have spread all over the world and in most cases, modern hospital management and care manages to get the patient back to normal health. The few who die from the disease are a unique bunch who develop a sort of shock-syndrome to the virus, with their bodies reacting so violently they present symptoms the alternate name of dengue is known, hemorrhagic fever that can result in death. (more…)

Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever (also known as break-bone fever) are acute febrile diseases which may be severe and potentially deadly if not treated immediately. Disease transmission is through the Aedes Aegypti mosquito. Presently, there are four different viruses known to cause dengue hemorrhagic fever to humans.

The dengue patient may experience irritation, restlessness, sweating, severe headache, muscle and joint pains, fever, petechial rash, and ecchymosis.

There is still no known cure or vaccine for dengue. Treatments available are increase fluid intake and administration of IV fluids and electrolytes to correct electrolyte imbalances and dehydration, oxygen therapy to treat abnormal low blood oxygen, and transfusion of fresh blood or platelets to correct the bleeding problems. Rest is important for dengue patients. For severe headache and joint and muscle pains, Acetaminophen and codeine may be given. Aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be avoided to avoid bleeding problems.

The first recorded outbreak happened in Australia last 1897. A reoccurrence was noted in 1928 during an epidemic in Greece and again, for the third time, in Taiwan last 1931. The initial outbreak in Australia verified the epidemic there. It was not long before it reached other Asian countries including India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, as well as in Singapore, Cambodia, China, Laos, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Palau, Philippines, Tahiti and Vietnam in the Western Pacific Region. Today, Dengue has most definitely come a long way from being a rare symptom on a foreign land to becoming a common house hold killer among locals evident in almost all Asian nations. 

Dengue is associated with poorer tropical third world countries. Leaders in Thailand warned his countrymen of the dengue epidemic that took the lives of six Thais and infected 6000 more. the Cambodian government felt it only right to focus on prevention instead of a cure. Cambodia has one of the most numbers of people infected by the Dengue fever. The Dengue prevention organization also believes that educational programs are not prioritized seeing that resources to implement them are not evaluated on a regular basis. , Dengue casualties were reduced significantly with the advent of vaccines and anti-biotic along with deadly viruses such as smallpox, poliomyelitis, and acute rheumatic fever. The World Health Organization stated that since 1998, infectious and parasitic diseases killed one-third of all deaths in the world in 1997.

Some 300 medical teams from all over the world has been sent across Asia to fight and prevent outbreaks of Dengue. The BBC News was told by Mumbai officials that 250 people had been rushed to various Mumbai hospitals stricken with Dengue fevers for the past several days. “They are all suffering from fever, Leptospirosis was suspected. There is no epidemic, though,” claims the source of the news. This was thwarted by the statement of a Mumbai Health officer who otherwise stated that Dengue fever was indeed a major concern in their country. Well actually isn’t it a major problem for practically everyone in the third world? 

People as we know it are responsible for spreading diseases and with recent outbreaks of dengue, swine and avian influenza, a very dangerous trend is being observed, they are taking shorter periods to spread. Swine flu pandemic has seen a very rapid spread of the disease throughout the world from the small town in Mexico where it all began. All these recent viral outbreaks is costing billions in losses due to lost business, absenteeism and the fear of the spreading disease that tends to get people out pf the streets fast. The pandemic status of Swine Flu quickly turned to that of damage control for no means of containment was proving effective for the virus was already out on the population. Swine flu has killed thousands but it underlies the more imminent danger from dengue, a far deadlier disease that has yet to get a vaccine out for the general public. And with recent strains of these viruses showing quick immunity to just released anti-viral drugs the job of researchers in finding cures that work is only getting harder by the day.

The mosquito scourge is dependent on certain environmental conditions to survive and our meddling with nature as in the case of once arid lands, turning them into lush farmland may be responsible for spreading the disease. Mosquitoes thrive in tropical environments and with many tropical areas already infected, taming other places that used to be too harsh for them, where rainwater is so precious we try to collect each and every drop turning them into havens for the virus carrying mosquito. (more…)

The outbreaks of many diseases that used to be contained in isolated incidents has become a thing of the past, thanks to modern travel, mostly by air which can reach all corners of the world in less than a day. The recent outbreak of swine flu, a totally different virus more akin to the bird-flu outbreak we had was a first time test of a virus that spread so fast it got out of the containment level before authorities could react. Weaknesses have been exposed and the many gaps of even the best funded government’s health services put to the test. In the end, the world was unprepared for the outbreak which has added to the many problem super-bugs we are now dealing from dengue, avian and swine flu among some of the most recent. (more…)

Researchers have come up with a vaccine that is effective against the four strains of the deadly disease that has proven effective on trials using monkeys. Annually, there are a reported million cases of infection that comes mostly from the tropics and people who have been to such areas. Two of the four types are deadly, hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome the tetravalent vaccine hopes to address. Proteins from all four viral strains were combined along with an adenovirus agent that resulted in the vaccine that promises to be the best yet.
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Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever(DHF) is actually an old virus that is considered to be one of the most deadliest the world over due to their ability to jump species. Spread by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, that is differentiated by it’s daytime feeding habits, it has silently killed millions the world over. The incubation period is short accompanied by severe fever that usually lasts three days, after which, without proper monitoring and care death is sure to occur. Mostly restricted to areas that are in the tropics zone due to the inability of its host to survive in cold weather. Outbreaks have been well documented and a cure is still out of sight. The disease is however being tackled from different angles, one of them targets the disease at its source, the mosquito which can be infected with a virus that halves its lifespan thus lessening its ability to spread it by half. The danger came when man invented mass travel wherein people and machines could transport the disease carrying mosquitoes all over the globe.