Dengue fever in many holiday countries

Dengue fever in many holiday countries: doctors advise travelers to mosquito repellent

17/08/2012

The Center for Travel Medicine (CRM) in Dusseldorf warns tourists in Australia, Thailand and Brazil of the dengue fever that is currently spreading in these regions. The infectious disease is transmitted by mosquitoes. Travelers should therefore not only apply mosquito-repellent sprays in the evening, as the main transmitter of dengue fever, the Asian tiger mosquito, is also active during the day.

Annually about 100 million cases of dengue fever worldwide
Dengue fever is an infectious disease caused by the dengue virus. The viruses are transmitted in tropical and subtropical regions primarily by the Asian tiger mosquito, a mosquito species. The yellow fever mosquito is one of the carriers of dengue. Increasing globalization is leading experts to believe that the infectious disease will continue to spread due to the spread of its transmitter. Dengue is the fastest-spreading and mosquito-borne viral infectious disease. Researchers have yet to develop a vaccine or a promising antiviral therapy for the disease.

In affected individuals, high fever initially occurs after infection, accompanied by flu-like symptoms such as limb and joint pain. In rare cases of severe disease, it can cause internal bleeding, the so-called dengue shock syndrome (DSS) and even the death of the patient. The World Health Organization (WHO) claims up to 100 million infections per year. However, dengue fever often remains undetected due to nonspecific symptoms.

Number of dengue virus infections in Australia soared
Especially in Australia there is currently a strong increase of dengue fever cases. As reported by CRM, the number has doubled in the period between January and July compared to the previous year. 1,065 cases were reported down under in the first half of the year.

In Brazil, as many as 350,000 cases of dengue fever were registered during the same period. In the future, the government plans to use genetically modified mosquitoes to stem the transmitter mosquito population. If the "dengue mosquitoes" pair with the genetically modified specimens, the joint offspring will die in the larval stage. However, the ecological consequences are not manageable. In Malaysia, massive popular protests prevented a similar attempt.

Other areas of the dengue virus are the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. The CMR advises travelers in all affected regions urgently to mosquito repellent. In addition to anti-mosquito sprays tourists should wear bright, closed clothes, as the tiger mosquito is attracted by dark colors. (Ag)

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