Dengue/DHF update 2006 (31)

International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>


[This is not a comprehensive collection of all dengue reports in the
world since the last update.]

In this update:
[1] China - Guangdong
[2] China - Guangdong update
[3] Taiwan
[4] Fiji

--
[1] China - Guangdong
Source: chinadaily.com.cn [edited]
<http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-08/31/content_678865.htm>



The number of dengue cases in south China's Guangdong Province has
risen by 36 since Tuesday to 124, said the provincial health bureau
on Thursday. 38 new cases were reported over the past 2 days, but 2
earlier reported cases had been excluded, according to the bureau. 36
new cases were reported in the provincial capital of Guangzhou, and
one each in the cities of Foshan and Yangjiang. 63 patients had
recovered and the others were reported to be stable in hospital. Five
cases involved people from Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia and
Thailand, and the rest were all local residents, said the bureau.

Since the 1990s, dengue has broken out occasionally in Guangdong and
neighboring Fujian province, mostly on a small scale. Large outbreaks
took place in Fujian in 1999 and in east Zhejiang province in 2004.

The local health bureau has called residents to clean up their
environments to eradicate mosquitoes as there are no effective
vaccines to prevent the disease.

The ministry has announced a nationwide monitoring of dengue to
gather details of epidemic conditions and analyze dissemination
patterns so the disease can be detected rapidly and treated. 16
monitoring sites will be set up in the southern provinces of
Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan, Hainan and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

******
[2] China - Guangdong update
Source: Reuters AlertNet, London,England,UK [edited]
<http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PEK16854.htm>



The number of dengue fever cases in China's southern Guangdong
province has more than doubled to 219 in the past week, half of whom
are still in hospital, Xinhua news agency said late on Monday [4 Sep 2006].

Of the 219 people infected, mostly since June, 192 were in the
provincial capital Guangzhou, a city of 10 million, Xinhua said.
"They are in stable conditions and there have been no fatalities,"
the provincial health bureau said of the patients, according to Xinhua.

The cases involved the least dangerous form of the virus, which is
endemic to the tropics. Dengue is carried by the _Aedes aegypti_
mosquito, which transmits the virus that causes fever, severe
headache, joint and muscular pains, vomiting and rashes.

Chinese experts have blamed the recent hot and humid weather and
inadequate anti-mosquito efforts for the outbreak. Authorities have
launched an anti-mosquito and city-cleaning campaign in the
densely-populated Guangzhou.

A bigger outbreak sickened more than 1000 people in Guangzhou in 2002
but none of those cases was fatal, local media said.

Small-scale outbreaks of dengue fever have been reported occasionally
in Guangdong and the southeastern province of Fujian since the 1990s,
Xinhua said.

******
[3] Taiwan
Source: Taiwan IHR Focal Point
<http://www.cdc.gov.tw>


Based on the notifiable disease surveillance system in Taiwan, during
the 35th epidemiological week (27 Aug to 2 Sep [2006]), 90 dengue
fever (DF) cases were reported in Taiwan, of which 31 were laboratory
confirmed. As of 2 Sep [2006], there had been 721 reported cases of
DF nation-wide this year, of those, 202 had been confirmed, including
three dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) cases. So far this year (2006),
no DF deaths have been reported.

The cumulative number of dengue confirmed cases has increased by 197
percent compared with the same period last year (2005, 68 cases).
Among this year's cases, 63 were classified as imported and 139 were
domestic cases. The origins of the imported cases were as follows: 24
from Vietnam; 14 from Indonesia; 9 from Thailand; 8 from the
Philippines; 3 from Cambodia; 2 from Malaysia; one from Myanmar; one
from El Salvador; and one from Madagascar.

Of the domestic cases, the main serotypes of circulating DF virus are
DEN-3, and only one case is DEN-2. The case distribution was mainly
in southern Taiwan, including Kaohsiung City, Kaohsiung County,
Tainan City, and Pingtung County.

******
[4] Fiji
Source: Fiji Times, Suva,Fiji [edited]
<http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=47758>


Health authorities have confirmed 3 cases of dengue fever.
---------------------------
Head of the National Centre for Communicable Diseases Doctor Joe
Koroivueta said water shortage indirectly contributed to dengue. "It
has been proven that dengue is not only happening during wet season,"
he said. "It is now happening during dry season because of the
storage of water.
"Water shortage indirectly contributes to dengue because of this
shortage people have to store water during dry season and mosquitoes
breed in these containers. Apart from this pot plants and tyres are
the most common breeding places."

Dengue fever is a viral disease that is spread by mosquitoes.
A report released by the Health Ministry in 1999 called Rising to the
challenge revealed that the virus carrying mosquitoes called Aedes
aegypti was a highly-domesticated mosquito that thrived in crowded
urban centres. It said these mosquitoes bred in manufactured
containers that held relatively clean water like water tanks,
barrels, washbasins and animal drinking containers.