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Dengue fever continued to levy severe health and economic woes on tropical countries around the world in the fall of 2009. Indeed, many countries reported record numbers of dengue cases during their recent rainy seasons.
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Southeast Asia: Despite Increased Prevention Efforts, Dengue Expanding in Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines: |
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Even before the floodwaters overtook much of Southeast Asia this past fall and left thousands living in evacuee camps where mosquitoes multiply rapidly in the crowded conditions, dengue fever was reaching a literal fever pitch in 2009. Cases of dengue had increased more than 100 percent over the number of cases last year in Vietnam and the Philippines according to the Than Nien Daily News and Vietnam's National Institute of Infectious and Tropical Diseases. By August, 435 people had died from the infection in Sri Lanka, according to sources from Sri Lanka's national newspaper, The Daily News. Of great concern was the presence of all four dengue serotypes in Sri Lanka. Studies indicate that once a patient has been infected with - and recovered from - one strain of dengue, he or she is more likely to develop dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) upon infection with a second strain. Of all types of dengue fever, hemorrhagic dengue most frequently results in fatalities in children and adults.
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Local governments are doing all they can do to alert the public to dengue danger. Sri Lanka and Vietnam threaten jail terms for people who leave standing water around their residences (although this may be impractical due to flooding in certain areas) and the Philippines and Sri Lanka have national holidays during which symptoms and preventative measures are highly publicized. Cuba has sent two entomologists to Sri Lanka along with supplies of a bacterium BTI (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) that the Cuban government claims has played a critical role in reducing the problem of dengue in Cuba. However, the practical effects of adopting this technique in Southeast Asia remain to be seen, because the bacterium will devour mosquito larvae in large, marsh areas but do not appear able to spread from puddle to puddle. |
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Minor Dengue Outbreak in Key West, Florida, USA Highlights Research, Testing Already Underway: For the past four decades, southern Florida has been free from dengue fever, despite the fact that the infection has been a persistent problem for neighboring Cuba. However, in mid- September of 2009, that peaceful streak was broken when three people were diagnosed with dengue fever in Key West. Although all three patients made a full recovery, the small outbreak has brought the issue of dengue fever to the fore for southern Florida and the United States at large. In fact, even before the outbreak, scientists in Florida suspected that something of that nature was coming. Carina Blackmore, Florida's State Public Health Veterinarian, believes that there have probably been several mis- or undiagnosed cases a year throughout the time that has been claimed to be free of the fever. "We have been expecting it," she told the Associated Press. "We just haven't picked it up." |
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Cuba Successfully Controls Dengue: In late September, Cuba's Deputy Minister of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Microbiology reported that there had been no major |
| outbreak of dengue fever in Cuba this year. In the previous months, reports of 43 cases of dengue fever in Cuba and an additional secondary outbreak consisting of 10 cases had the international medical and scientific communities concerned due to worries that Cuba's successful dengue eradication efforts - efforts that are emulated around the world - may not be holding up during rainy seasons.
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In 2009, massive water shortages necessitated tank storage in Havana and Santiago de Cuba, where the cases were reported. As a result, many feared that Cuba's denguefighting bacterium, BTI (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) might fail to destroy sufficient mosquito larvae in the water containers. However, official sources in Cuba dispute this. The country claims that the current increase in defensive measures is a normal seasonal program, and nothing else. Furthermore, the Deputy Minister notes that no deaths due to dengue have been reported in the country, and attributes all 43 reported cases to international travelers, according to reports by Cuba's Radio Nuevitas. Cuba is a nation of great interest to the dengue scientific community because of its strong control and possible elimination of all forms of dengue fever within the nation's borders. Further, Cuba is one of the world's dengue research centers with many scientists undertaking international- quality research. |
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