Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Peru fumigation effort aims to curb dengue outbreak

Health personnel in protective suits are going door to door in Peru, fumigating homes to eradicate mosquitos spreading the dengue-causing virus that has already killed 79 people in the country this year.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Hidden 'super spreaders' spur dengue fever transmission, finds study

For mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue fever, the abundance of the insects in places where people gather has long served as the main barometer for infection risk. A new study, however, suggests that the number of "hidden" ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Sudan's tropical disease spike reflects poor health system

The two Sudanese women thought they had malaria and were taking their medication, but things took a dire turn. Both complained of a splitting headache and fever that didn't respond to the anti-malaria treatment.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Mapping Mexico's dengue fever hotspots

As many as one in five dengue fever deaths in the Americas occur in Mexico, and the rate of the disease's severity has been increasing for decades, according to the World Health Organization. Now, a Rutgers researcher has ...

Vaccination

Japanese dengue vaccine becomes second approved by EU

Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda said the European Union had given the green light to its dengue fever vaccine, making it the second jab preventing the disease to be approved by the bloc.

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Dengue fever

Dengue fever (pronounced UK: /ˈdɛŋɡeɪ/, US: /ˈdɛŋɡiː/) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are acute febrile diseases, found in the tropics, and caused by four closely related virus serotypes of the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae. It is also known as breakbone fever. The geographical spread includes northern Australia, northern Argentina, and the entire Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Honduras, Costa Rica, Philippines, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Mexico, Suriname, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Bolivia, Brazil, Guyana, Venezuela, Barbados, Trinidad and Samoa. Unlike malaria, dengue is just as prevalent in the urban districts of its range as in rural areas. Each serotype is sufficiently different that there is no cross-protection and epidemics caused by multiple serotypes (hyperendemicity) can occur. Dengue is transmitted to humans by the Aedes aegypti or more rarely the Aedes albopictus mosquito, which feed during the day.

The WHO says some 2.5 billion people, two fifths of the world's population, are now at risk from dengue and estimates that there may be 50 million cases of dengue infection worldwide every year. The disease is now epidemic in more than 100 countries.

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