|
|
|
|
front |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |6 |7 |8 |9 |10 |11 |12 |13 |14 |15 |16 |17 |18 |19 |20 |21 |22 |23 |24 |25 |review |
 |
Dengue is a rapidly expanding disease problem and epidemics worldwide have become larger and more frequent. Incidence of the severe and fatal form of the disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever, has increased dramatically in Asia and has moved into the Americas, including the United States-Mexico border region. Two factors are primarily responsible for this change in epidemiology: increased air travel and a total lack of effective mosquito control in tropical and sub-tropical urban centers. Important risk factors for dengue hemorrhagic fever include the strain and serotype of the virus involved, as well as the age, immune status, and genetic predisposition of the patient. The only option presently available to prevent the dengue problem from becoming progressively worse is to reduce incidence of disease, and the only way to achieve that is to control
Aedes aegypti. Unfortunately, the conventional methods that have been used are not very effective. Keep in mind, that without the development of effective vaccines, the prospects of a very real crisis exist that has not been appropriately addressed. GLOBAL INCIDENCE OF DENGUE HEMORRHAGIC FEVER
Source: Duane J. Gubler, Virus Information Exchange Newsletter, No.8, 1991. |
||||||||||||