Archived
June, 2007 |
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Hispanic Health Program
DENGUE/DENGUE HEMORRHAGIC FEVER
WHAT IS THE PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM?
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Dengue infections are
vastly under reported. |
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It is estimated that
there are 50 to 100 million dengue infections globally, each
year. According to the WHO, more than 500,000 cases of dengue
hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are reported
annually. |
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The number of dengue
cases reported in the Americas has increased from
66,011 in 1980, to 1,024,701 in 2002. |
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While 100 to 200
suspected dengue cases on average are reported among
travelers returning the US each year, the actual number of
infected travelers is estimated to be
1000-2000. |
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Without proper
treatment, DHF case fatality rates can exceed 20%. With modern
intensive supportive therapy, case fatality rates can be
reduced to less than 1%. |
WHAT HAS CDC
ACCOMPLISHED?
CDC is a global leader in
epidemiologic, virologic, entomologic and community-based
prevention research on dengue/DHF. CDC maintains active
surveillance of all dengue cases in Puerto
Rico where the disease is endemic, and passive surveillance for
suspected cases imported into the US. CDC participates in
epidemic response and investigation, including
dengue outbreaks on the Texas-Mexico border in 1995 and
1999, El Salvador in 2000, and the dengue outbreak in Hawaii in
2001.
Example of program in action: |
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CDC provides travelers
health and general information about
dengue/DHF in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, in print, on the
Internet, and through medical education slide
sets, videocassettes (and also CD ROM) for
physicians. CDC responds to hundreds of travel
inquiries annually. Since 1985, a variety of community
based projects have been established to
further dengue prevention in Puerto Rico.
These projects involve the local communities and are linguistically and
culturally compatible programs. |
WHAT ARE THE NEXT
STEPS?
CDC will
continue to provide epidemic response and technical assistance both
domestically and worldwide. Development of a dengue vaccine remains an
important goal. Multidisciplinary research is underway to evaluate
community-based dengue prevention initiatives in Puerto Rico, with the
aim of refining strategies for further use in Puerto Rico, along the
U.S. - Mexico border, in dengue endemic countries of Latin America, and
elsewhere.
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