Dengue Update

2010: LARGEST DENGUE OUTBREAK IN PUERTO RICO HISTORY

Dengue cases reached historically high levels in 2010 in parts of southern Florida, and in the US territories of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands (USVI), bringing the global dengue resurgence even closer to home. Central and South America were similarly afflicted. Puerto Rico experienced the largest outbreak in its history (Figure 1), recording over 21,000 reported cases. (read more) [PDF - 2 page]

SCIENTISTS MEET TO DISCUSS DENGUE RESEARCH

A 3-day scientific meeting will take place at the Conrad San Juan Condado Plaza in Puerto Rico February 2011 to discuss the latest dengue research, identify research gaps and priorities and promote future research collaborations among government agencies, research institutions and universities across the Americas. This meeting will be hosted by NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, CDC, and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). (read more) [PDF - 2 page]

10,483 CLINICIANS IN PUERTO RICO TRAINED BY CDC

Although dengue has been endemic in Puerto Rico for several decades, there has never been systematic education of health care providers on the clinical management of dengue — until now. (read more) [PDF - 2 page]

POSSIBILITY OF CHIKUNGUNYA OUTBREAK IN THE AMERICAS AND THE CARIBBEAN?

The danger of Chikungunya virus being introduced into the Americas is increasingly real. Chikungunya (CHIKV) is an emerging viral disease transmitted by the same mosquito vectors, Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus, which transmit dengue virus. Discovered in Africa in 1956, CHIKV was relatively rare until an explosive epidemic swept through East Africa, India and Southeast Asia beginning in 2006.(read more) [PDF - 2 page]

HELPFUL LINKS

A GUIDE FOR DIAGNOSTIC EVALUATION FOR DENGUE, www.nature.com/nrmicro/supplements
Nature Reviews Microbiology published a supplement in 2010; 8:12, related to dengue diagnostics, providing four articles from the WHO Diagnostic Evaluation Expert Panel as well as an overview of dengue as a continuing global threat.

DENGUEMAP
An interactive, web-based map that shows CDC-defined areas of endemic dengue risk and reports of recent dengue activity collected from professional and media sources by HealthMap.