On August 30, 2023, at the Las Misericordias church in Guatemala City, a municipal worker fumigated and disinfected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the vectors of dengue fever, Zika and chikungunya viruses. (JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
[The Epoch Times, December 13, 2023](Comprehensive report by Epoch Times reporter Zeng Ziheng) Some experts have warned that dengue fever is breaking out on a large scale in the Western Hemisphere. This year’s high temperature has caused the number of dengue fever infections to reach a high point, which may exceed historical records. It has been the worst year yet for infections.
As of early November, more than 4.5 million dengue cases have been reported globally, with more than 4,000 deaths reported in 80 countries.
Jeremy Farrar, chief scientist of the World Health Organization, said in an interview that the global record of 5.2 million cases set in 2019 may be surpassed this year. “Dengue fever is an increasing concern in the Americas, but now it’s almost a global phenomenon,” he said.
Thais dos Santos, an advisor for communicable disease surveillance and control at the Pan American Health Office (PAHO), said that as the number of dengue infections surges, officials are observing more and more “new phenomena.” These include record high temperatures in many areas this year, an extended summer, and the spread of dengue fever to the south and north. For example, California reported its first locally occurring dengue cases this year, and Florida reported a state record of 138 such cases, compared with only 65 reported last year.
South Asian countries including Bangladesh are reporting record numbers of dengue cases and deaths, according to published data. Bangladesh has reported more than 313,700 cases and more than 1,600 deaths, with most deaths occurring within three days of admission.
This year’s northern hemisphere summer has been recorded as the hottest on record. According to the European climate service Copernicus, August temperatures were 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above the pre-industrial average, making it the second-hottest year on record from the agency.
Gabriela Paz-Bailey, director of the dengue section at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Puerto Rico, pointed out that high temperatures help expand mosquito habitats and promote viruses to spread more quickly in mosquitoes. Local development leads to an increase in viral load and increases the probability of transmission.
At present, mosquitoes carrying dengue fever have been discovered in Europe and other places, and related cases have appeared in France, Italy, Spain and other countries. Meanwhile, the Central African country of Chad reported its first-ever dengue fever outbreak. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dengue fever affects about 129 countries, and about half of the world’s population is at risk of the disease.
Editor in charge: Li Tongde#
2023-12-13 11:10:02
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