DISEASES like dengue and yellow fever are transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti. The mosquito originated in sub-Saharan Africa, where some of its populations still breed in forests and feed on animals. Many of its populations, however, have evolved to thrive in human habitats in and outside Africa. It is …
The National Institute of Virology (NIV) has alerted medical establishments in Maharashtra to keep an eye on any patients of dengue showing Congo virus-like symptoms. This move is aimed at ruling out the presence of the newly-identified virus, initial infection signs of which bear resemblance to dengue haemorrhagic fever.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are common vectors for dengue virus and chikungunya virus. In areas where both viruses cocirculate, they can be transmitted together. During a dengue outbreak in Delhi in 2006, 17 of 69 serum samples were positive for chikungunya virus by reverse transcription
Dengue—a viral disease that can refer to both dengue fever and the more severe dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF)—swept away records again this past spring as it raged across Brazil, infecting more than 160,000 people and killing more than 100. The reports were similar to those out of Southeast Asia in …
There are outbreaks of dengue every year in India. They vary in the predominant serotype involved, clinical features and predominant laboratory findings. This study of the 2006 outbreak in Delhi highlights clinical features and laboratory parameters of dengue cases and compares the clinical features among the adult and paediatric age …
Malaysia is looking to battle dengue fever by releasing mosquitoes that have been genetically engineered to be sterile. Although these efforts have stirred public concern, the country's Academy of Sciences is likely to recommend the strategy to the government within a month. Original Source
Sri Lanka Health Ministry says that 500,000 families living in the war ravaged Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts are vulnerable to diseases spread by mosquitoes such as dengue, chikungunya and malaria. According to the Ministry prevailing rainy weather conditions in these areas has created this situation. Hospital sources in Anuradhapura said …
Dengue is spreading in the Americas. Incremental changes in climate could help explain the disease's expansion, according to environmental scientists. But some dengue experts have called the link with climate "alarmist' and scientifically unsound. Original Source
A rapid increase in mosquito-borne diseases has been observed in the last quarter of the previous year due to poor pest control services following the slashing of overtime for health staff, said Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam, the Colombo Municipal Council's Chief Medical Officer. "Nevertheless the department was able to control the …
An increase in the incidence of chikungunya has been reported in certain pockets in the Ratnapura district and the Epidemiology Unit of the Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry has taken precautionary measures to prevent an epidemic, the chief government epidemiologist Dr. Nihal Abeysingha said yesterday. "We have found seven chikungunya cases …
