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Tackling dengue in Pakistan: an Infectious Thoughts interview

Tackling dengue in Pakistan: an Infectious Thoughts interview

Dengue infections are soaring to record highs this month in Pakistan, a country used to frequent and severe dengue outbreaks, as numbers reach nearly 50,000 recorded cases and 80 deaths so far. In this Infectious Thoughts interview, Kamran Rafiq from the ISNTD speaks with Dr. Somia Iqtadar, Chairperson of the Dengue Expert Advisory Group, and Pr. Muhammad Ali Khan, Secretary of the Dengue Expert Advisory Group (DEAG), about the dengue burden in Pakistan, and the partnerships

Unprecedented dengue in Nepal: Myths & Misunderstandings

Unprecedented dengue in Nepal: Myths & Misunderstandings

Since August this year, over 9,000 people from 65 of Nepal’s 77 districts have been diagnosed with dengue, including six patients who have died, in an unprecedented outbreak of the disease. High altitudes are thought to have precluded the Aedes mosquito from becoming established in Nepal and surrounding regions, but some believe that climate change may be to blame for changes in environment which enabled a recent dengue outbreak. Dr. Sher Bahadur Pun is a senior infectious di

Country experience: dengue in Ethiopia

Country experience: dengue in Ethiopia

My name is Yibeltal Akelew and I'm from the Department of Immunology and Molecular Biology School of Biomedical and Laboratory Science, Debre Markos University, Ethiopia. Despite outbreak reports and some serological surveys, the dengue virus is the most significant under-recognized arbovirus in Ethiopia. I have been working on a project looking at acute fever for a masters thesis in Ethiopia that mainly focuses on arboviruses (dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever), bacteria

Takeda opens new dengue vaccine manufacturing plant in Singen, Germany

Takeda opens new dengue vaccine manufacturing plant in Singen, Germany

In November this year, the Japanese pharmaceutical firm Takeda inaugurated its first dengue vaccine manufacturing plant in Singen, Germany. The Singen vaccine plant ultimately aims to offer end-to-end production of the vaccine, including formulation, fill, finish and secondary packaging of the current Takeda dengue vaccine candidate. This plant is located on the premises of one out of 34 production sites of Takeda’s extensive network in 20 different countries serving a wide r

Assessing the repellent efficacy of essential oils

Assessing the repellent efficacy of essential oils

Environmental management and protection from insect bites remain some of the main strategies shared with communities to prevent mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and break transmission cycles. The search for effective novel tools for the protection from mosquitoes is ongoing, with researchers increasingly exploring alternatives to existing insecticides and repellents. Applying insect repellent remains one of the most favoured strategies chosen by individuals to protect t

They signed the World Dengue Day petition: find out why

They signed the World Dengue Day petition: find out why

The global petition calling for a World Dengue Day has garnered support from signatories across the globe and across disciplines. In this Infectious Thoughts interview, we hear more about the reasons for which it was important to rally behind this movement from Dr. Andrea Mosca, medical entomologist and vector professional in mosquito surveillance and abatement in the district of Piedmont (Italy), and Fiona Weston, parent and resident of London. What is your professional or p

Understanding patient mobility patterns to tackle dengue transmission

Understanding patient mobility patterns to tackle dengue transmission

The mosquito species that can transmit dengue tend to remain close to their breeding sites and have low mobility - comparatively, the impact of human mobility in the transmission of this disease is substantial, in particular given that these mosquitoes are prone to establishing themselves in densely populated urban areas. In dengue patients, the symptoms of the illness have a strong impact on the mobility choices of infectious individuals. Recent research has looked at the da

In the frontline: Disease Control Agents' role, an insight from Brazil

In the frontline: Disease Control Agents' role, an insight from Brazil

Vector control and environmental management are crucial aspects of dengue control, with professionals in the field delivering these interventions as thoroughly as possible and providing an essential link between communities and the health and prevention sector. However, a number of challenges mean that it can remain difficult to maintain staff numbers and momentum in these positions - globally, technical knowledge of vectors can remain insufficient, training opportunities are

A web-GIS approach to mapping dengue outbreaks

A web-GIS approach to mapping dengue outbreaks

Dengue fever was first recorded in Pakistan in 1982, with about a dozen cases confirmed. The disease has been spreading in scope and intensity over the last few decades, with a major outbreak in 2010 launching a new period of frequent and severe outbreaks for this high burden country. Efforts are being stepped up to both prevent infections within communities as well as harness numerous and innovative approaches to predict when and where outbreaks might occur to best channel r

Mosquito control: targeting breeding sites using street view images

Mosquito control: targeting breeding sites using street view images

In addition to personal protection against mosquito bites and the chemical control of mosquitoes and their larvae, the removal of common breeding sites is one of the most important and effective steps in controlling mosquitoes and the diseases they transmit. Recent research has sought to use geotagged images obtained through Google's Street View to map the most common types of open containers in order to facilitate and accelerate the detection of these and generate a decision

First case of autochthonous dengue near Lyon, France

First case of autochthonous dengue near Lyon, France

This week, French health authorities including the local Agence Régionale de Santé Auvergne Rhône-Alpes have confirmed the first case of autochthonous dengue in the Rhône region of France. Auvergne Rhône-Alpes is a large region of France, bordering with Switzerland and Italy to the east, and includes several important urban centres including the city of Lyon, Saint-Etienne and Grenoble. Serological tests confirmed that one patient was indeed locally infected with the dengue v

World Dengue Day at the Asia Dengue Summit

World Dengue Day at the Asia Dengue Summit

The 4th Asia Dengue Summit took place in Jakarta, Indonesia, in July 2019, bringing together dengue experts from academies and research institutions, representatives from Ministries of Health, the regional and global World Health Organization (WHO) and numerous national and international groups who participated to provide a broad overview of the current status of dengue and its management across Asia. As part of the summit, Kamran Rafiq, co-founder and Communications Director

Women and biosocial approaches to dengue control

Women and biosocial approaches to dengue control

Successful dengue control is reliant upon integrated and cross-disciplinary approaches, including collaboration across entomology and vector-control, epidemiology, case management, community engagement etc. A growing body of research has been looking at the benefits of social and ethnographic considerations, particularly to highlight the relationship between nature, society and health, and has been applying this in order to provide a better understanding of how communities in

They signed the World Dengue Day petition: find out why

They signed the World Dengue Day petition: find out why

The global petition calling for a World Dengue Day has garnered support from signatories across the globe and across disciplines. In this joint Infectious Thoughts interview, we hear about why it was important to rally behind this movement from Dr. Alimatou Hema, pharmacist at GRAS (Groupe de Recherche Action en Santé) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Pr. Eliningaya J. Kweka, from the Tropical Pesticides Research Institute in Arusha, Tanzania; and Dr. Kenneth Arkoh Amoquandoh, D

Dengue in the Americas: rising concern as further local cases detected

Dengue in the Americas: rising concern as further local cases detected

This month, a second case of locally-acquired dengue has been confirmed in Florida by health authorities. This means that in addition to a significant rise in the number of dengue infections in residents of Florida who have traveled abroad, two cases in 2019 have been confirmed as autochthonous. Although dengue outbreaks in the U.S. remain rare, the disease carrying mosquito, Aedes aegypti, is established in the U.S. which means that there is always a risk for the local trans

Dengue hospitalisations in Singapore: reducing the burden of epidemics on healthcare systems

Dengue hospitalisations in Singapore: reducing the burden of epidemics on healthcare systems

Singapore has regularly faced outbreaks of dengue. Following a severe epidemic in 2005, authorities reviewed hospital admission criteria in a bid to reduce pressures on the healthcare system. In this Infectious Thoughts interview, we speak to Ms. Li Wei Ang, a principal medical statistician in the National Public Health and Epidemiology Unit at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, Singapore, about recent research evaluating the impact of reduced hospital admissions fo

Towards the biocontrol of dengue: copepods as predators of Aedes larvae in Sri Lanka

Towards the biocontrol of dengue: copepods as predators of Aedes larvae in Sri Lanka

With the expansion of the disease-transmitting Aedes mosquitoes worldwide, researchers have been exploring control strategies to enhance and complement traditional chemical and mechanical vector control methods. The biocontrol of Aedes larvae by natural predators such as copepods or guppy fish has been increasingly studied and evaluated. Recent research conducted in Sri Lanka has assessed the potential for the biocontrol of Aedes larvae by five locally available copepods. In

Dengue cases set to break records in 2019

Dengue cases set to break records in 2019

Dengue fever has become the fastest growing mosquito-borne disease worldwide, now present in over 100 countries compared to only nine before 1970. This year, the number of dengue cases and outbreaks worldwide have surged further compared with 2018, with numbers in many countries set to break records. Compared to the same time periods in 2018, data for dengue infections so far in 2019 shows substantial increases, prompting several countries across continents to declare nationa

The ArboTyping tool: monitoring virus genotypes to track disease outbreaks

They signed the World Dengue Day petition: find out why

They signed the World Dengue Day petition: find out why

The global petition calling for a World Dengue Day has garnered support from signatories across the globe and across disciplines. Dr. Raphael Ximenes is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada, and in this Infectious Thoughts interview, we find out why it was important for him to rally behind this movement. What is your professional or personal connection to or interest in dengue fever? My interest in dengue is a result of both personal and p

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