Thread: Dengue Fever/Virus?

What is this Dengue Fever/Virus thing?

Thought it normally was only a problem in South America? Now, some friends returning for San Juan are telling me it's becoming a problem all over the Caribbean ....

Eh gads, what?

Dengue, a disease found in most tropical and subtropical areas of the world, has become the most common arboviral disease of humans. More than 2.5 billion persons now live in areas where dengue infections can be locally acquired (1). Reported attack rates for disease during epidemics range from 1 per hundred to 1 per thousand of the population (2). However, because persons with milder illness may not seek medical attention and subsequently be reported, the actual number of infections in a population may be 5 to 10 times greater than the number reported. Epidemics caused by all four virus serotypes have become progressively more frequent and larger in the past 25 years. As of 2005, dengue fever is endemic in most tropical countries of the South Pacific, Asia, the Caribbean, the Americas, and Africa.

No vaccine is available. Travelers should be advised that they can reduce their risk of acquiring dengue by remaining in well-screened or air-conditioned areas when possible, wearing clothing that adequately covers the arms and legs, and applying insect repellent to both skin and clothing. The most effective repellents are those containing N,N-diethylmetatoluamide (DEET)

References

1. Gubler DJ. The global emergence/resurgence of arboviral diseases as public health problems. Arch Med Res. 2002;33:330-42.
2. Pan American Health Organization. 2005: Number of reported cases of dengue & dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), Region of the Americas (by country and subregion). Available at: http://www.paho.org/English/AD/DPC/CD/dengue-cases-2005.htm. Accessed 12 July 2006.
3. Kouri GP, Guzman MG, Bravo JR, Triana C. Dengue haemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome: lessons from the Cuban epidemic, 1981. Bull World Health Organ. 1989;67:375-80.
4. Pan American Health Organization. Dengue hemorrhagic fever in Venezuela. Epidemiol Bull. 1990;11:7-9.
5. CDC. Dengue–Texas. MMWR Morbid Mortal Wkly Rep. 1980;29:451.
6. Lacayo M, Taylor R, Duran H, Abell A, et al. Outbreak investigation of dengue—Texas, 2005 (Late-breaker). Presented at 54th Annual Meeting: American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Washington, DC, December 11-15, 2005.
7. Effler PV, Pang L, Kitsutani P, Vorndam V, Nakata M, Ayers T, et al., and Hawaii Dengue Outbreak Investigation Team. Dengue Fever, Hawaii, 2001–2002. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005;11:5:742-749.
8. CDC. Travel-associated dengue —United States, 2005. MMWR Morbid Mortal Wkly Rep. 2006;55:22:700-2.
9. Trofa AF, DeFraites RF, Smoak BL, Kanesathasan N, King AD, Burrous JM, et al. Dengue fever in US military per-sonnel in Haiti. JAMA. 1997;277:1546-8.
10. O’Leary DR, Rigau-Pérez JG, Hayes EB, Vorndam AV, Clark GG, Gubler DJ. Assessment of Dengue risk in relief workers in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Georges. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2002;66:35-39.
11. Smith CE, Tom Tammy, Sasaki J, Ayers T, Effler PV. Dengue risk among visitors to Hawaii during an outbreak. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005;11:750-66.
12. Rigau-Pérez JG, Clark GC, Gubler DJ, Reiter P, Sanders EJ, Vorndam AV. Dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever. Lancet. 1998;352:971-7.
13. García-Rivera EJ, Rigau-Pérez JG. Dengue virus. In: Scott GB, Hutto SC, eds. Diagnosis of congenital and perinatal infections: a concise guide. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, 2005:189-99.
14. Kliks SC, Nimmanitya S, Nisalak A, Burke DS. Evidence that maternal dengue antibodies are important in the development of dengue hemorrhagic fever in infants. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1988;38:411–9.
15. Fernandez R, Rodriguez T, Borbonet F, Vasquez S, Guzman M, Kouri G. Estudio de la relacion dengue-embarazo en un grupo de madres cubanas. Rev Cubana Med Trop. 1994;46:76–8.
16. Beatty ME, Biggerstaff B, Rigau J, Petersen L. Estimated risk of transmission of dengue virus through blood transfusion in Puerto Rico (#126). At 5th International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases. Atlanta, GA. March 19-22, 2006.

Originally Posted by LuLu

What is this Dengue Fever/Virus thing?

Thought it normally was only a problem in South America? Now, some friends returning for San Juan are telling me it's becoming a problem all over the Caribbean ....

I have heard about Dengue Fever when I lived in Trinidad, but I do not know anyone who has had the virus. It can kill you, and you aquire it from the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. The mosquito becomes infected when it bites an infected person, then spreads the virus when that mosquito bites someone else. Dengue is Not contagious from human to human.
Here is a link from the CDC about Dengue fever.

Dengue Fever Fact Sheet - CDC Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases (DVBID)

Dengue fever, disease information, NCID, CDC

Dengue Fever, Health & Science Topics, NIAID, NIH

The Associated Press: Dengue Fever Surges in Latin America

Lovely...another reason to dislike bugs...

My friend who told me about this tends to be overly DRAMATIC so I really didn't may too much attention!

Guess, I owe her an apology!

Keep in mind that she really dramatizes things ... but she told me they were staying with friends in a house just outside of San Juan. She could not wait to get home (South Carolina) and bathe-bathe-bathe to get the odor of the Bug Spray off her.

According to my friend ... (she swears it's true ) her friends had an employee whose only purpose in life was to run around with bug spray and spray them at every opportunity!

Apparently, it really is a very serious thing!

Originally Posted by djgifford

Lovely...another reason to dislike bugs...

Yeah what she said!!!


Great thread and awesome info everyone!!! Thanks!!! Hugs!!!

Originally Posted by LuLu

My friend who told me about this tends to be overly DRAMATIC so I really didn't may too much attention!

Guess, I owe her an apology!

Keep in mind that she really dramatizes things ... but she told me they were staying with friends in a house just outside of San Juan. She could not wait to get home (South Carolina) and bathe-bathe-bathe to get the odor of the Bug Spray off her.

According to my friend ... (she swears it's true ) her friends had an employee whose only purpose in life was to run around with bug spray and spray them at every opportunity!

Apparently, it really is a very serious thing!

LuLu, she's not over dramatizing this time, Dengue Fever is a very serious concern, yes.