Diseases
More than a thousand deaths due to dengue fever in Bangladesh
Due to the high number of cases of dengue fever, agents are being sprayed on the streets of Bangladesh to kill Aedes mosquitoes. photo
© Md Akbar Ali/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
The death toll from dengue virus infection is rising in Bangladesh. The Aedes mosquitoes that transmit Vorus are already present in Europe.
In total, there have already been more than 206,000 confirmed dengue cases this year, it said. The dengue virus is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, which are native to tropical and subtropical climates. They breed in stagnant water. There have also been increased cases of dengue in some South American countries this year. The Guatemalan government even declared a health emergency.
WHO concerned
The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed concern about the spread of the pathogen. Half of the world’s population is now at risk of dengue, it said. Dengue fever was previously called bone crusher fever because it can cause severe body pain. There are vaccines against dengue, although some have severe side effects, but there are no special medications other than those that reduce fever.
Climatic changes in the endemic areas played a role in the spread, said Sebastian Ulbert, head of the vaccines and infection models department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology in Leipzig, recently. “It’s getting warmer and wetter, the mosquito density is increasing. People are living closer together, which makes it easier for the insects to spread.”
Not a harmless viral infection
We already have Aedes mosquitoes that can transmit dengue, and travelers returning from travel occasionally bring the virus with them. So far it has not been warm enough in this country for the virus to multiply easily in mosquitoes and then be transmitted. Dengue is not a harmless viral infection. Small children are particularly at risk.
“In southern European countries, the climate is now sufficient for viruses to be transmitted via mosquitoes in the warm season,” Peter Kremsner, director of the Institute for Tropical Medicine, Travel Medicine and Human Parasitology at the University Hospital of Tübingen, recently explained. “Here, too, there will be more transmissions in the future.”
According to the UN, Bangladesh is one of the least developed countries in the world. The South Asian country is also very densely populated, which is why the virus can spread particularly well there. There is currently no state dengue vaccination program.