WHO fears new dengue fever epidemic

MANILA – Public health officials have renewed warnings of a possible epidemic of dengue fever in Asia this year.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) believes 2007 could be on a par with 1998, when nearly 1,500 people died in Asia of the mosquito-borne disease.

This year dengue has already killed more than 1,000 people in Indonesia alone. In many other places the death and infection rates through June had already surpassed the totals for 2006.

“There is a strong possibility this year could be one of the worst,” said John Ehrenberg, adviser for malaria and other diseases at the WHO’s regional office in the Philippines.

“We are seeing major spikes in reported cases around the region,” he told AFP.

Dengue fever is nowhere near as deadly as malaria, which kills an estimated 2.7 million people around the world every year.

Officials say the best way to fight the spread of dengue is to control the mosquito’s breeding grounds — areas where water collects and stagnates — but that can prove difficult once the annual rains begin.

The early arrival of the rainy season in much of Asia has been blamed for the upsurge in outbreaks this year, experts said.

Throughout Asia, cases of the disease are soaring. Thailand has recorded 19,000 cases and 18 deaths for the first six months of the year.

“This year is more serious than last year because of the earlier arrival of the rainy season, which brought forward the hatching period,” Vichai Stimai, of Thailand’s health ministry, told Bangkok’s Nation newspaper.

In Cambodia, deaths this year have already eclipsed fatalities in 2006 as the country battles one of the worst outbreaks of the disease in a decade.

Dengue has also become a major health issue in Singapore and the government has stepped up its public awareness campaign and efforts to eradicate mosquito breeding grounds.

There have been nearly 3,600 cases of dengue infection reported so far this year in the city-state — more than double the number in the period in 2006.

According to the WHO, only a handful of countries had experienced epidemics before 1970. But now the disease is endemic in more than 100 countries around the world.

“It has been a neglected disease relative to malaria, tuberculosis and now HIV/AIDS, all of which are major causes of fatalities worldwide,” Ehrenberg said.

Five facts about dengue fever

— Dengue fever is a flu-like illness spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. Unlike the mosquitoes that cause malaria, those carrying dengue bite during the day.

— Four different but related viruses cause dengue fever. If you survive any one of them, you are immune to that virus for life. But there is evidence that you are more likely to die if infected again by any of the other three.

— Although only a relatively small percentage of dengue infections end up being fatal, there is no known cure.

— The illness has spread rapidly around the world in recent decades. Only a handful of nations had dengue fever epidemics before 1970. Now the disease is endemic in more than 100 countries.

— Dengue fever is most common in cities, and cases are almost never found in mountainous areas more than 4,000 feet (1,250 metres) above sea level.

Source: AFP