Dengue spike fuels considerations of public well being menace in beforehand untouched international locations: WHO
The warning got here as WHO reported greater than 5 million dengue infections and 5,000 deaths from the illness worldwide this 12 months.
Briefing journalists on the UN in Geneva, Dr. Diana Rojas Alvarez, WHO Team Lead on Arboviruses, stated that the menace required “the maximal attention and response from all levels” of the UN well being company to assist international locations in controlling present dengue outbreaks and put together for the upcoming dengue season.
Global warming an infection enhance
Dengue is the commonest viral an infection transmitted to people bitten by contaminated mosquitoes. It is generally present in city areas inside tropical and sub-tropical climates.
The rise within the variety of reported circumstances of dengue in additional international locations is defined by the truth that contaminated mosquitoes now thrive in additional international locations due to world warming related to rising emissions.
“Climate change has an impact in dengue transmission because it increases rainfall, humidity and temperature,” stated Dr. Alvarez. “These mosquitoes are very sensitive to temperature.”
Although 4 billion persons are in danger from dengue, most of these contaminated are symptom-free and normally recuperate inside one to 2 weeks.
A well being employee fumigates a home in Guayaramerín, Bolivia, to guard towards mosquito-borne ailments.
Shock techniques
However, extreme dengue infections are marked by shock, extreme bleeding or extreme organ impairment, in line with WHO.
It additionally highlighted that these harmful signs usually begin “after the fever has gone away”, catching carers and medical professionals unawares. Warning indicators to look out for embody intense belly ache, persistent vomiting, bleeding gums, fluid accumulation, lethargy, restlessness and liver enlargement.
As there is no such thing as a particular therapy for dengue, early detection and entry to correct medical care is essential, to decrease the likelihood to die attributable to extreme dengue.
“Since the beginning of this year, over five million cases and about 5,000 deaths of dengue have been reported worldwide and close to 80 per cent of those cases have been reported in the Americas, followed by Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific,” reported Dr. Alvarez.
She added that “it is also concerning that dengue outbreaks are occurring in fragile and conflict-affected countries in the eastern Mediterranean region such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.
The global prevalence of mosquitoes has changed in the last few years owing to the 2023 El Niño phenomenon which accentuated the effects of global warming temperatures and climate change, WHO said.
Home and Away
Both factors are associated with previously dengue-free countries such as France, Italy and Spain reporting cases of infections that originated at home – so-called autochthonous transmission – rather than abroad. The disease vector is the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is widely distributed in Europe and also more commonly known as the “tiger mosquito”.
“Usually, Europe reports imported cases from the Americas, from the Western Pacific, from the endemic regions”, stated Dr. Alvarez. “But this year we saw limited clusters of autochthonous transmission. As we know, the summers are getting warmer”.
