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
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
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
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
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 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
Monitoring of virus genotype diversity is an important aspect of tracking the emergence and evolution of these outbreaks and, in recent work
Territorial expansion of the invasive Aedes mosquito in Turkey
In recent decades, the highly invasive and disease-carrying Aedes mosquitoes have undergone a dramatic global expansion, establishing themselves in new regions worldwide. Dr. Koray Ergünay is a professor of medical microbiology at the Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey, where much of his research focuses on vector-borne viruses, assay development, vector surveillance, viral metagenomics and novel virus discovery. In this Infectious Thoughts interview, we speak to Dr. Ergüna
Mapping the spread of the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes
Over the last decades, factors including human movement and climate change have opened up opportunities for the dramatic expansion of disease-carrying mosquitoes into new regions. In recent research, an international and multidisciplinary team have used statistical mapping techniques to understand the spread of both species in Europe and the United States and draw attention to likely patterns of future expansion. In this Infectious Thoughts interview, we speak with Dr. Moritz
First dengue outbreak in the Darfur region, West Sudan: an Infectious Thoughts interview
The Darfur region in western Sudan has suffered from both conflict and civil unrest which have caused high levels of internal displacement, immigration, and substantially fragilised infrastructure and communities. Severe cases of febrile illnesses were reported from different areas of Darfur which, given weak healthcare structures, were often clinically diagnosed as malarial infections. A recent study has investigated the likelihood of arbovirus infections and established the
