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Dengue fever: A new and lethal menace
Dengue fever: A new and lethal menace
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By Thuria Ghaleb
Oct 31, 2006, 11:43
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A. A., a 35-year-old man, knew something was wrong with him when he began suffering from colic, and vomited for four days. With the assistance of his brothers, he finally went to the hospital, where he stayed for a week. During this time, he stopped drinking and eating, and suffered from increasing abdominal pains. He was sent to another hospital for better care.
But on the second day, he slipped into a coma, and was transferred to the intensive care unit. His liver stopped working. His kidneys also suffered, and he was treated with dialysis. For two weeks, this coma continued. When he finally arose, he did not recognize his wife or two children. At last, his body could resist the disease no more, and he died. A.A. is one of an increasing number of people contracting Dengue Fever, a debilitating and often fatal disease. It is spreading particularly quickly in areas close to the equator.
It has already killed a huge number of people in Southeast Asia, Africa and American continents. And in the last couple of years, the epidemic has spread to Saudi Arabia and to Yemen. It is particularly affecting people in the coastal areas of Yemen, especially those in Al-Hodeidah governorate and surrounding areas. Dengue Fever infects nearly 50 to 100 million people in more than 90 countries each year, according to the World Health Organization.
About 200,000 to 500,000 of those infected are stricken by the serious form of the disease, Hemorrhagic Dengue Fever, which kills 40 to 50 percent of patients. So the death rate amounts to 2 percent of the general number of Dengue Fever patients. WHO indicates the first human case of this disease in Yemen was recorded in 2003 in Shabwah governorate. Other cases were discovered in 2004 in the same governorate and others. New cases have also been discovered in Shabwah, Al-Dhale? and Abyan governorates, said Dr. Abas al-Motwakel, the deputy of the minister of Medicine Sector in Health Ministry.
So far, the total number of new cases in Yemen is 423, including three deaths. Other resources show that there are more than 1,500 patients infected. About 75 of those have died as a result. Dengue Fever is caused by a virus called Dengue that lives in a particular kind of monkey. There are four kinds of this virus: Den 1, Den 2, Den 3 and Den 4. It is transmitted from animals to humans, or from person to person, via a dangerous mosquito called Aedes Aegypti. This mosquito becomes active two hours after sunrise and two hours before sunset, when each mosquito lays as many as 200 eggs.
This mosquito breeds in stagnant water, often water stored for drinking, swimming or agriculture. Mosquitoes look for barrels full of rainwater, puddles around swimming pools, or moisture around air conditioners. Puddles of rain in the street are also suitable places for these mosquitoes to lay their eggs. Dengue fever can quickly spread in a population, infecting as much as 80 percent of the people in a vulnerable area. The virus stays in the body from three to seven days before producing symptoms, starting when a human is bitten by an infected mosquito. If two weeks pass after a mosquito bite without any symptoms, then the person bitten is not infected.
If the patient is bitten by a mosquito carrying dengue virus, he will feel symptoms similar to those of influenza. He will feel tired, and suffer from headaches, nausea with vomiting, pains in his eyes, joints and muscles, increased temperature, and skin eruptions. The symptoms of this disease are often worse in children. Children also suffer from stomach pains with diarrhea. Many patients may mistake the symptoms of Dengue Fever for those of influenza, not knowing that the two diseases produce similar symptoms. Anyone with these symptoms should make sure to consult a doctor to receive a correct diagnosis.
Dengue fever can also linger in a person?s body without ever producing symptoms. In this case, it is not dangerous. If a person is infected with any kind of dengue virus, he is then immunized against that one, but he may still be infected by one of the other strains. Hemorrhagic Dengue Fever is much more serious, causing severe symptoms. The body?s temperature can either rise too high or drop too low. Such symptoms are often accompanied by an unusually fast heartbeat and a decrease in blood pressure. Pink spots of bleeding begin to appear in the skin. The nose, gums, and digestive system may be also bleed.
Sometimes, the disease damages the patient?s liver and causes it to stop working. The nervous system may also be affected, so that the patient suffers from convulsions or goes into a complete coma. Thus far, there are no effective treatments, except for painkillers and drugs to decrease fever. Dengue fever is much easier to prevent than to cure. People can protect themselves by using insecticides and getting rid of standing water that gives mosquitoes a place to breed. In areas where this epidemic is spreading, people should cover their bodies with long sleeves and long pants to avoid bites, and spray themselves with insect repellent, such as DEET.
http://www.yobserver.com/article-11144.php
Comment: I did not have the impression that dengue was a person to person ailment. Any comments?
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>By Thuria Ghaleb
Oct 31, 2006, 11:43
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
A. A., a 35-year-old man, knew something was wrong with him when he began suffering from colic, and vomited for four days. With the assistance of his brothers, he finally went to the hospital, where he stayed for a week. During this time, he stopped drinking and eating, and suffered from increasing abdominal pains. He was sent to another hospital for better care.
But on the second day, he slipped into a coma, and was transferred to the intensive care unit. His liver stopped working. His kidneys also suffered, and he was treated with dialysis. For two weeks, this coma continued. When he finally arose, he did not recognize his wife or two children. At last, his body could resist the disease no more, and he died. A.A. is one of an increasing number of people contracting Dengue Fever, a debilitating and often fatal disease. It is spreading particularly quickly in areas close to the equator.
It has already killed a huge number of people in Southeast Asia, Africa and American continents. And in the last couple of years, the epidemic has spread to Saudi Arabia and to Yemen. It is particularly affecting people in the coastal areas of Yemen, especially those in Al-Hodeidah governorate and surrounding areas. Dengue Fever infects nearly 50 to 100 million people in more than 90 countries each year, according to the World Health Organization.
About 200,000 to 500,000 of those infected are stricken by the serious form of the disease, Hemorrhagic Dengue Fever, which kills 40 to 50 percent of patients. So the death rate amounts to 2 percent of the general number of Dengue Fever patients. WHO indicates the first human case of this disease in Yemen was recorded in 2003 in Shabwah governorate. Other cases were discovered in 2004 in the same governorate and others. New cases have also been discovered in Shabwah, Al-Dhale? and Abyan governorates, said Dr. Abas al-Motwakel, the deputy of the minister of Medicine Sector in Health Ministry.
So far, the total number of new cases in Yemen is 423, including three deaths. Other resources show that there are more than 1,500 patients infected. About 75 of those have died as a result. Dengue Fever is caused by a virus called Dengue that lives in a particular kind of monkey. There are four kinds of this virus: Den 1, Den 2, Den 3 and Den 4. It is transmitted from animals to humans, or from person to person, via a dangerous mosquito called Aedes Aegypti. This mosquito becomes active two hours after sunrise and two hours before sunset, when each mosquito lays as many as 200 eggs.
This mosquito breeds in stagnant water, often water stored for drinking, swimming or agriculture. Mosquitoes look for barrels full of rainwater, puddles around swimming pools, or moisture around air conditioners. Puddles of rain in the street are also suitable places for these mosquitoes to lay their eggs. Dengue fever can quickly spread in a population, infecting as much as 80 percent of the people in a vulnerable area. The virus stays in the body from three to seven days before producing symptoms, starting when a human is bitten by an infected mosquito. If two weeks pass after a mosquito bite without any symptoms, then the person bitten is not infected.
If the patient is bitten by a mosquito carrying dengue virus, he will feel symptoms similar to those of influenza. He will feel tired, and suffer from headaches, nausea with vomiting, pains in his eyes, joints and muscles, increased temperature, and skin eruptions. The symptoms of this disease are often worse in children. Children also suffer from stomach pains with diarrhea. Many patients may mistake the symptoms of Dengue Fever for those of influenza, not knowing that the two diseases produce similar symptoms. Anyone with these symptoms should make sure to consult a doctor to receive a correct diagnosis.
Dengue fever can also linger in a person?s body without ever producing symptoms. In this case, it is not dangerous. If a person is infected with any kind of dengue virus, he is then immunized against that one, but he may still be infected by one of the other strains. Hemorrhagic Dengue Fever is much more serious, causing severe symptoms. The body?s temperature can either rise too high or drop too low. Such symptoms are often accompanied by an unusually fast heartbeat and a decrease in blood pressure. Pink spots of bleeding begin to appear in the skin. The nose, gums, and digestive system may be also bleed.
Sometimes, the disease damages the patient?s liver and causes it to stop working. The nervous system may also be affected, so that the patient suffers from convulsions or goes into a complete coma. Thus far, there are no effective treatments, except for painkillers and drugs to decrease fever. Dengue fever is much easier to prevent than to cure. People can protect themselves by using insecticides and getting rid of standing water that gives mosquitoes a place to breed. In areas where this epidemic is spreading, people should cover their bodies with long sleeves and long pants to avoid bites, and spray themselves with insect repellent, such as DEET.
http://www.yobserver.com/article-11144.php
Comment: I did not have the impression that dengue was a person to person ailment. Any comments?
Comment