Some people think diseases from distant lands may not seem like a threat, but they’re wrong. Geographical distance from an affected area is not enough to keep the disease from spreading to other places. Two researchers say this is the case with dengue, a tropical virus that has already struck in the United States. Cases have cropped up in Texas and Hawaii, leading people to fear the spread of the disease.
The researchers suggest global warming is part of the reason to blame for the movement of the disease to non-tropical climates. Dengue is transmitted to humans by Aedes mosquitoes. The mosquitoes are traveling farther north and little is being done to control the mosquito populations.
According to MedicineNet.com, people with dengue fever display the following symptoms:
- chills
- headache
- fever
- pale pink rash
- swollen glands
- pain when moving eyes
- leg and joint pain
The solution to the spread of dengue fever isn’t simple. There is no vaccine. The public will have to wait at least five to 10 years before a vaccine comes out. Instead of vaccines, the CDC recommends mosquito population control and disease prevention. While this may be a good solution in the long run, there needs to be a plan to mitigate the impact of the current spread of dengue fever. Blood screening tests for dengue need to be improved so that doctors can catch cases early and prevent an outbreak in a community. The last thing we need is an epidemic of this potentially deadly virus.
January 27, 2008 at 10:03 pm
[...] mentioned in my post on dengue fever, rising temperatures will likely bring mosquitoes and other insects farther north than they would [...]