DENGUE/DHF UPDATES (17): 3 MAY 2002
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[see also:
Dengue/DHF updates (01): 14 Jan 2002          20020115.3265
Dengue/DHF updates (16): 26 Apr 2002          20020426.4039
2001
---
Dengue - Brazil                               20011018.2566
Dengue - Singapore                            20010712.1345
2000
----
Dengue - Singapore: background                20000318.0378
Dengue - Singapore: mosquito breeding places  20000305.0302
1999
----
Dengue - Australia (Queensland)               19990429.0715
Dengue/DHF - Singapore: Summary for 1998      19990227.0273
1998
----
Dengue, prospects - Australia                 19981231.2471
Dengue - Australia (Queensland) (05)          19980101.0008
Dengue - Australia (Queensland) (10)          19980806.1517
Dengue - Australia (Torres Strait)            19981203.2326
Dengue - Australia (Torres Strait) (03)       19981222.2430
Dengue - Australia/Pacific                    19980623.1169
Dengue/DHF - Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) (03)     19980419.0724
Dengue/DHF - Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)          19980406.0638
Dengue - Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) (02)         19980405.0626
Dengue - Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)              19980326.0563]

In these updates:
[1] & [2] Brazil (Rio State)
[3] Singapore (A Novel Control Strategy)
[4] & [5] Australia (Queensland)

[1]
Date : Fri 26 Apr 2002
From: Pablo Nart <p.nart@virgin.net>
Source: Source Agence France Press (English edition), Thu 25 Apr 2002 [edited]


Brazil: Dengue Fever Outbreak Waning
------------------------------------
The dengue fever epidemic that has killed 50 in the state of Rio de 
Janeiro since the beginning of the year is waning, said health 
officials on Thu 25 Apr 2002. In April 2684 cases of dengue were 
counted, dramatically fewer than the 37 000 tallied in March, Health 
Secretary for the state of Rio de Janeiro Mauro Marzochi told 
reporters. The February figure hit 41 000. "I would like to say that 
we have no epidemic but I want to be sure. I prefer to say that the 
epidemic is at an end," he said. He reminded everyone to be alert to 
any signs of the disease's return and to continue to eliminate 
mosquito breeding grounds. "If we don't the epidemic will return," he 
said.

The epidemic affected a total of 149 387 persons in the state, 1365 
of whom contracted the hemorrhagic variety, which is the more serious 
and sometimes fatal form of the disease. The situation has been 
particularly serious in the city of Rio de Janeiro and the 
surrounding metropolitan area where 130 000 cases were reported, 1282 
of those the hemorrhagic form. At least 43 died.

Last month around 500 000 people [were involved in] a campaign to 
destroy the breeding grounds of dengue-carrying mosquitos such as 
water storage areas and garbage dumps, also targeting cemeteries and 
derelict land. The figure included 40 000 health workers, soldiers 
and fire fighters and some 460 000 volunteers.

--
Pablo Nart
<p.nart@virgin.net>

******
[2]
Date: Thu 2 May 2002
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Intel Press Service (English edition), Mon 29 Apr 2002 [edited]


Brazil: Dengue Epidemic Under Control, but Threat Remains
---------------------------------------------------------
RIO DE JANEIRO: The dengue epidemic that claimed 56 lives in Rio de 
Janeiro state so far this year is under control, says Brazil's Health 
Minister Barjas Negri, but experts and the population fear a new 
outbreak. Of 190 634 dengue cases recorded from 1 Jan to 24 Apr 2002, 
official figures indicate that 1645 involved the hemorrhagic type, 
the most serious [form] of the disease. The largest previous dengue 
epidemic in Rio de Janeiro was in 1991, with 85 891 cases. The 
mortality rate attributed to dengue could rise because investigations 
of some deaths have not yet concluded. The number of ill [in Rio] in 
the first 24 days of Apr 2002 was a relatively low 2684, compared to 
37 417 in Mar 2002, reported the Municipal Health Secretariat.

Negri, a federal-level minister, announced late last week the 
demobilization of 1300 army and air force troops who participated in 
the campaign throughout Rio de Janeiro state to eradicate the _Aedes 
aegypti_ mosquito, which transmits dengue. Furthermore, some 1000 
members of the Health Ministry staff will return home. They have been 
in the Rio area since February to take part in the anti-dengue and 
anti-dengue vector offensives. The health campaign also included the 
work of volunteers. Some 730 000 people were mobilized for the war 
against the disease-spreading mosquito on 9 Mar 2002, a decisive day 
for the statewide action.

The sharp reduction in contagion is evident in the smaller numbers of 
patients in the hospitals, but is due in large[r] part to help from 
nature. The months of March and April, usually the rainy season for 
Rio de Janeiro, were the driest in recent years. The _Aedes aegypti_ 
mosquito requires warm weather and stagnant water to reproduce. 
Dengue epidemics tend to erupt during rainy summers in tropical 
countries, and the number of infected persons naturally diminishes as 
the temperature cools and there are fewer mosquitoes.

The high incidence of the disease has left a large portion of the 
state's population immunized against dengue virus type 3, cause of 
the latest epidemic. The epidemic this year was of predictable 
magnitude, said Sergio Arouca, a doctor specializing in public health 
and municipal secretary of health for Rio de Janeiro, who earlier 
this year warned that there was a lack of preventive measures for 
confronting dengue. A year earlier, in Dec 2000, type 3 dengue virus 
had been identified in the city, for the first time in all Brazil. 
Dengue virus types 1 and 2 had caused the previous major epidemics 
[in Brazil]. Now there is fear that the same problem will be recur 
with dengue virus type 4, which is already present in neighboring 
Colombia and Venezuela, and in Ecuador.

[Byline: Mario Osava]

--
ProMED-mail
<promd@promedmail.org>

******
[3]
Date: Tue 30 Apr 2002
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: The Straits Times, Fri 26 April 2002 [edited]


Singapore: Habitat Competition, A Potential New Weapon Against Dengue
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SINGAPORE: The Environment Ministry is considering breeding 
[propagating] one of the 2 types of _Aedes_ mosquito that transmit 
dengue virus here and to use it as an ally to kill the other. This is 
one of the projects that will be carried out by the new Environmental 
Health Institute at Science Park 2 in Pasir Panjang Road, that was 
launched yesterday (Thu 25 Apr 2002) by Environment Minister Lim Swee 
Say. The Institute, which will start off with 24 researchers, 7 of 
whom are PhD holders, also hopes to become a reference centre for 
research on the disease, with its 5 laboratories each focusing on a 
different aspect of the virus. After the launch, the Institute's 
deputy head, Dr Ooi Eng Eong, explained why it may resort to the 
age-old method of using fire to fight fire. He said: "If one [species 
of mosquito] is the major transmitter of the disease, then our 
control measures should be specifically targeted at the other, so 
that it can act as our ally by competing for the same habitat as the 
other."

To find out which mosquito should be bred [as the competitor?], the 
Institute will test several hundred children entering Primary 1 next 
January [i.e. Jan 2003] for dengue-fever antibody and, if present, to 
identify the strain [serotype?] of the infecting virus. The project 
will deal with Primary 1 children because nearly 7 per cent of those 
aged between 6 and 10 have been exposed to the virus, compared to 0.8 
per cent of those under 5 years old. This difference could indicate 
that the children were exposed to the virus when they started going 
to school. [The logic of this proposal escapes me. - Mod.CP]

Besides this project, the institute will also increase the amount of 
research done on dengue and mosquitoes in general, both in the 
laboratory and in the field. There are over 50 types of mosquito 
here, of which 7 can transmit viruses. [A high containment facility 
is available for virus research].

Commissioner for Public Health Wang Nan Chee said that one of the 
reasons for the low rates of infectious diseases here is the speed at 
which they are tackled. Singapore was declared free of malaria in 
1982 and has the lowest dengue rates in the region. The average 
number of cases here last year was 46 per week. Mr Wang noted that 
dengue rates reach pandemic proportions during an El Nino year, which 
brings warmer weather with it. During the last one in 1997, the 
number of cases of the disease peaked at more than 100 per week. 
Worldwide, up to 100 million people were affected.

--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

******
[4]
Date: Thu 2 May 2002
From: Pablo Nart <p.nart@virgin.net>
Source: Townsville Bulletin (Australia) via Newsline, Wed 1 May 202 [edited]


Australia: Cases of Dengue Fever in Townsville, Queensland
----------------------------------------------------------
Public health officials have confirmed an outbreak of dengue fever in 
Townsville, with 2 cases of the disease reported at Railway Estate. 
The Tropical Public Health Unit said yesterday these were the first 
locally acquired cases reported in Townsville since April 2001, when 
a small outbreak occurred in Mysterton and North Ward.

Public health physician Dr Susan Hills said the cases involved a man 
and a woman. The 2 cases were discovered within the last week," Dr 
Hills said. "This is considered an outbreak because both patients 
have no travel history and the last locally acquired cases were in 
April 2001." Dr Hills said neither of the patients had travelled 
overseas recently and so it was likely they had acquired the disease 
in the Townsville area. She said the outbreak was probably initiated 
when an infected person brought in the virus from overseas. 
"Unfortunately it appears that there were also dengue mosquitoes 
present in Railway Estate at the time," she said. "Having bitten this 
infected person, these mosquitoes were then able to carry the virus 
to others, triggering a local outbreak." Dr Hills said the cases were 
of concern because additional cases were likely with many perhaps 
going unreported. She said health officials were "very anxious" to 
prevent another outbreak similar to the one that occurred in Railway 
Estate in 1992-93, when more than 900 cases of dengue fever occurred.

Queensland Health inspectors and Townsville City Council health 
officials yesterday conducted a sweep of houses within a 250m radius 
of where the dengue patients lived. Fogging [was carried out also] in 
the immediate area in the late afternoon. Acting Mayor Ann Bunnell 
said 5 Railway Estate premises inspected yesterday morning were found 
to have _Aedes aegypti_ breeding sites.

The 2 cases followed confirmation of another case in West End last 
week, thought to have been contracted overseas. Townsville's first 
recorded case of the season occurred last month, although that was 
also believed to have been contracted overseas.

[Byline: Roberta Mancuso]

******
[5]
Date: Thu 2 May 2002
From: Pablo Nart <p.nart@virgin.net>
Source: ABC News (Australia) 1 May 2002 [edited]
<http://abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s544585.htm>


Australia: Dengue Cases in Townsville Not locally Acquired
---------------------------------------------------------
TOWNSVILLE (Queensland): Townsville health authorities are urging 
residents to clean up around their homes to prevent the spread of 
dengue fever. In Railway Estate 2 cases have been reported, the first 
since April 2001; but the last major outbreak, involving over 900 
cases, also began in Railway Estate in 1992. Dr Susan Hills, from the 
Tropical Public Health Unit, says it is thought the cases stem from a 
person who got the disease overseas. "We haven't had any locally 
acquired dengue in Townsville for over 12 months, it must have been 
somebody that picked up the disease overseas, came back and was 
bitten by the mosquitos here that subsequently spread the disease."

-- 
Pablo Nart
<p.nart@virgin.net>
................jw/ll/cp/pg/lm
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