Dengue infecting 50 million people each year

Dengue fever is becoming the major public health concern, as the disease is endemic in more than 100 countries, infecting 50 million people each year world wide, while the disease is spreading dramatically in line with rapid urbanisation around the world.
Pakistan Medical Society (PMS) Chairman Dr Masood Akhtar Sheikh told Business Recorder that the possibility of an outbreak of deadly dengue virus in Punjab could not be ruled out, as tens of thousands of people reached Punjab on trains, buses, private cars and by air during the EID holidays. Although, trains were fumigated but no other areas were targeted.
Dr Masood Sheikh said that there has been no dengue specific treatment or vaccine because the disease is a tropical disease and is caused by a specific type of mosquito Aedies Aegypti that bites during the dusk and dawn. He added that these mosquitoes' usually breeds in water collected in the discarded containers, and tires.
He said that significant outbreaks of dengue fever tend to occur every 5 to 6 years. There tend to remain a large no of susceptible people in the population despite the previous out breaks, he said, adding that there are 4 different strains of the dengue virus, and because of the new susceptible individuals entering the target population, through immigration.
He said that the dengue fever could assume still more serious proportion over the coming days due to the continuing lack of sufficient public awareness and failure to take measures to prevent the breeding of Aedies Aegypti mosquito, which carries the virus.
The onset of cold weather, which kills the mosquito, seems as the main hope in stopping the spread of the disease, but this has been delayed this year. He added that the primary prevention of mosquito mainly resides in elimination or reducing the mosquito vector for dengue.
He said that this infectious disease is manifested as sudden onsets of fever, with severe headache, muscle and joint pain (myalgia and arthralgia-- severe pain, and rashes. The dengue rash is characteristically bright red spots, and usually first appears on lower limb and chest, in some patients it spreads to cover the most of the body. There may also be gastritis with some combination of associated abdominal pain nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, he added.