Vietnam Dengue 2013

[Ronan Kelly]

Vietnam dengue fever toll rises to 46
September 8, 2013 by thanhniennews

Dengue fever has so far this year claimed 46 lives among 49,011 Vietnamese people who have been infected, according to the Vietnam Administration of Preventive Medicine.


Most of the dengue fever cases have been found in the central and southern regions, the administration said.

It said the epidemic is under control because the number of infections and fatalities has not increased compared to last year?s figures of 128,831 infections and 109 deaths.
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http://vietnambreakingnews.com/2013/09/vietnam-dengue-fever-toll-rises-to-46/

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: Vietnam Dengue 2013

Follow link to read in full;

Vietnam Releases Dengue-Blocking Mosquito
by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 05, 2013 3:02 AM
TRI NGUYEN ISLAND, Vietnam (AP) ? Nguyen Thi Yen rolls up the sleeves of her white lab coat and delicately slips her arms into a box covered by a sheath of mesh netting. Immediately, the feeding frenzy begins.
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All her mosquitoes have been intentionally infected with bacteria called Wolbachia, which essentially blocks them from getting dengue. And if they can't get it, they can't spread it to people.
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It's unclear why mosquitoes that transmit dengue do not naturally get Wolbachia, which is found in up to 70 percent of insects in the wild. But O'Neill doesn't believe that purposefully infecting mosquitoes will negatively impact ecosystems. He says the key to overcoming skepticism is to be transparent with research while providing independent risk analyses and publishing findings in high-caliber scientific journals.
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The strain of bacteria used on the island blocks dengue 100 percent, but it's also the hardest to sustain. At one point, 90 percent of the mosquitoes were infected, but the rate dropped to about 65 percent after the last batch was released in early September. A similar decrease occurred in Australia as well, and scientists switched to other Wolbachia strains that thrive better in the wild but have lesser dengue-blocking abilities.
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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=243127703