In Nicaragua, dengue fever spreads

In Nicaragua, dengue fever continues to spread

02/11/2013

In Nicaragua, dengue fever continues to spread. According to the government, eight new cases are added every hour. This year, 14 deaths have already occurred.

Every hour, eight new infections
Central America's Nicaragua has been hit by a dengue epidemic for months. The tropical disease continues to spread and hourly at least eight more people would be infected, as government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo announced on Thursday. Currently, more than a thousand patients are being treated for suspected dengue fever in hospitals. This year, there have been 14 deaths in the country so far.

Almost 100,000 in Central America
According to the latest survey of the Pan-American Health Organization (OPS), more than 94,000 people are affected throughout Central America. This resulted in at least 27 deaths in Honduras, six in Guatemala and three in El Salvador.

Millions of undiscovered cases
Dengue fever is mainly transmitted by the mosquito Stegomyia aegypti (yellow fever mosquito). The large increase in dengue disease in recent decades is also associated with the increasing prevalence of these mosquitoes. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 50 to 100 million dengue cases occur each year. But other experts point to a high number of unreported cases. British researchers have the results of a study in the science journal „Nature“ which estimates that in 2010 alone, there were nearly 300 million undetected cases worldwide.

Caused by mutation?
A few months ago, Nicaraguan scientists have made their assumption public that the dengue epidemic in Central America could have been caused by mutations in the genetic material of the yellow fever mosquito. This could have led to the mosquitoes becoming much more aggressive and also resistant to conventional insect killers. Dengue fever occurs in more than a hundred tropical and subtropical countries, especially in Southeast Asia, Africa and Central America.

No vaccine against dengue fever yet
Dengue fever is manifested by symptoms such as fever, itchy rash, severe headache, muscle and joint pain, and can lead to death. To date, there is no effective vaccine against dengue viruses. Although such a vaccine was introduced last year, its low efficacy has been quickly revealed. Another possible prevention that is currently taking place in Brazil is highly controversial because of the unpredictable consequences. There, genetically modified mosquito males were released, whose offspring perish rapidly. (Ad)

Image: Sebastian Karkus