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Although the last dengue epidemic in the Caribbean region occurred 10 years ago, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) reports that disease modeling predicts that another regional outbreak of Dengue fever may occur in the near future, prompting officials to recommend mosquito breeding countries and prevent the spread of the disease.
In 2018, Latin America recorded an increase in the number of dengue cases. More recently, the dengue epidemic in Jamaica has raised the level of concern in other Caribbean islands.
More recently, the region experienced an outbreak of other mosquito-borne viruses, Chikungunya in 2014 and Zika in 2016.
The measures used to control the spread of dengue are the same as for Zika and Chikungunya because these diseases are also transmitted by the mosquito Aedes aegypti. With the arrival of the rainy season in a few months, mosquito control and awareness activities need to be intensified. The Caribbean Ministries of Health are urged to: multiply health promotion messages to prevent mosquito bites and mosquito breeding, involve community efforts to eliminate mosquito breeding sites, intensify surveillance and control of mosquitoes vectors and disseminate appropriate guidelines for clinical care and treatment.
"We all need to clean our environment. The two most important things in the management of mosquito populations in our Caribbean countries are the management of water tanks and water tanks and the proper disposal of used vehicle tires to prevent mosquito breeding. says Dr. C. James Hospedales, executive director of CARPHA.
Dengue fever is a viral infection transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. Four closely related but antigenically different virus serotypes can cause dengue fever (DEN1, DEN 2, DEN 3, DEN 4).
- Dengue fever (DF) – characterized by the sudden onset of high fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes and pain in the muscles and joints. Some may also have a rash and varying degrees of bleeding in various parts of the body (including nose, mouth and gums or bruising). Dengue fever has a broad spectrum of infection outcomes (asymptomatic to symptomatic). Symptomatic illness may range from dengue fever (DF) to more severe dengue fever (DH).
- Dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) – is a more serious form, seen in a small proportion of infected people. DHF is a stereotypical disease characterized by 3 phases; febrile phase with high fever continues usually less than 7 days; critical phase (plasma leakage) lasting 1 to 2 days, usually apparent when the fever drops, causing shock if not detected and treated promptly; convalescence phase lasting 2 to 5 days with improvement in appetite, bradycardia (slow heart rate), convalescent rash (white plaques on a red background), often accompanied by generalized itching (more intense in palms and soles of the feet) and diuresis (increased urinary output).
- Dengue shock syndrome (DSS) – Shock syndrome is a dangerous complication of dengue fever and is badociated with high mortality. Severe dengue occurs as a result of a secondary infection with a different viral serotype. Increased vascular permeability, badociated with myocardial dysfunction and dehydration, contributes to the onset of shock, resulting in multiorgan failure.
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