Dengue fever

[Eddie Clamp]

Sunday Times Travel News - 26th December 2010

A dramatic rise in the number of people contracting dengue fever is causing concern for health authorities from Latin America to the Far East. More than 45,00 cases of the dangerous mosquito-borne virus had been reported in Malaysia, with 132 deaths, while more than 70,000 have been stricken in Thailand - an increase of 145% on last year. Laos, Vietnam and the Phillipines are also badly affected, and a spike in the number of cases reported in Bali has led the authorities in Western Australia to issue a travel warning. Honduras has reported the worst outbreak in 30 years, with 69,745 cases and 81 deaths; Costa Rica has reported a 400% increase in infections; and Cuba has task force of 30,00 dedicated to fighting the disease.

It is spread by the aedes mosquito, which can bite at any time of day or night. Avoidance is all about bite prevention. There is no treatment and no vaccine. It only takes one bite to become infected.

[Richard Mason]

Sunday Times Travel News - 26th December 2010

A dramatic rise in the number of people contracting dengue fever is causing concern for health authorities from Latin America to the Far East. More than 45,00 cases of the dangerous mosquito-borne virus had been reported in Malaysia, with 132 deaths, while more than 70,000 have been stricken in Thailand - an increase of 145% on last year. Laos, Vietnam and the Phillipines are also badly affected, and a spike in the number of cases reported in Bali has led the authorities in Western Australia to issue a travel warning. Honduras has reported the worst outbreak in 30 years, with 69,745 cases and 81 deaths; Costa Rica has reported a 400% increase in infections; and Cuba has task force of 30,00 dedicated to fighting the disease.

It is spread by the aedes mosquito, which can bite at any time of day or night. Avoidance is all about bite prevention. There is no treatment and no vaccine. It only takes one bite to become infected.

There will no doubt be an outbreak to follow in those parts of North Queensland which have received a walloping in the current record breaking wet season, so need to be aware of it there too.

On the subject of Immunisation, there's a trial happening right now in FNQ (http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s3089577.htm) which aims to immunise the mosquito population against dengue - if it works, it could have world-wide implications for control of the disease.

A word of warning for visitors to those parts of Australia affected by the recent rains, (ie Qld, NSW, Victoria & SA), there are lots of other mosquito borne illnesses (http://www.health.qld.gov.au/mozziediseases/consumers/snapshotqld.asp) (arboviruses) you can pick up, some fairly mild (compared with Dengue), others such as Japanese Encephalitis, Murray Valley Encephalitis (http://access.health.qld.gov.au/hid/InfectionsandParasites/ViralInfections/murrayValleyEncephalitis_fs.asp), although quite rare are very dangerous. I contracted the much commoner Ross River Virus (http://access.health.qld.gov.au/hid/InfectionsandParasites/ViralInfections/rossRiverVirus_fs.asp) on an Army Reserve exercise on the Eyre Peninsula (SA) some 14 years ago and was quite badly debilitated for almost a year.

[neil_richardson]

Thanks for including Victoria in your "mosquito plague" area mate :)

Notice you've excluded Tassie ;)

but honestly, before xmas we had lashings of mossies,, sweet FA now TBH. However, we have had an explosion of birds here at the moment, so that might have had an affect!!! think they might have followed down the swarm of locusts we had!!!!

And dont get me started about the toads, and snakes that have been flooding down here from Queensland!!! :eek:

okay that last ones a lie,, was trying to make things sounds biblical.

[ChristianG]

Thanks for including Victoria in your "mosquito plague" area mate :)
Thus far malaria is limited to our northern reaches, such as FNQ. That's because the Anopheles mosquito, which carries it, doesn't much like the cooler south.
As well, unlike, say, Papua New Guinea which, with Guadalcanal Island in the Solomons, can fairly be called the world's malaria capital it's not reached serious proportions there - yet.

It's only the female Anopheles, that's the one that buzzes - the males don't, which needs a blood meal when she's pregnant. Hear a mosquito buzz in a malarial area and worry, seriously worry!

[Richard Mason]

Thanks for including Victoria in your "mosquito plague" area mate :)

Notice you've excluded Tassie ;)

but honestly, before xmas we had lashings of mossies,, sweet FA now TBH. However, we have had an explosion of birds here at the moment, so that might have had an affect!!! think they might have followed down the swarm of locusts we had!!!!

And dont get me started about the toads, and snakes that have been flooding down here from Queensland!!! :eek:

okay that last ones a lie,, was trying to make things sounds biblical.

Hey if I can catch RRV in South Australia (dryest State on the dryest continent etc)..... it can be caught anywhere.

Trust me, RRV will be huge in the Murray area within a few weeks and probably in the Gippsland Lakes too - tends not to be a problem in Melbourne etc because of lack of suitable habitat with both vectors and large populations of macropods living near people.

We do get it down here in Eastern Tas too and with the wet Spring and Summer we've had, we could well be in for an outbreak here by mid-March onwards; we run a mosquito trapping and testing programme to try to detect the virus, but I doubt we'll see anything for a while yet.

[Big Blue BSAC]

Dengue fever is pretty common in many parts of the world. It just doesn't reach the headlines unless it hits regions that aren't prepared for it.

I've had dengue before, my wife even got the hemoragic one and it is very uncomfortable and no cure.

The best advice we were given was stay away from water, which is hard for divers and use mosquito block.

Terrible, terrible thing to get. Never known anyone to die of it though.

[Alwassia]

Here in Jeddah we get Dengue cases every week, a fey pass away mostly because they went tot he hospital to late.