Dengue, aka "Breakbone Fever", Is Back

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/pandemics/2012/12/dengue_fever_in_united_states_breakbone_fever_outbreaks_florida_texas_and.single.html

by drucken • 14 years ago

43 31 14 years ago

slate.com

rdl3• 14 years ago

Ugh. A dive instructor friend of mine caught this in Thailand and was weak/sick for months. It's scary. If this becomes endemic in the US, going outside will be taking your health in your hands, and we'll probably end up draining a bunch of marshland, re-introducing DDT, etc. since on balance losing birds is better than losing people.

david_b• 14 years ago

Much as I want to, DDT isn't the wonder-pesticide it is sometimes seen as (it affects not only birds - the german article has more info on wildlife, the english more on human health effects): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT Also, I want to see how you drain Florida :-)

rdl3• 14 years ago

It doesn't seem anywhere near as bad as malaria or dengue. It does seem to disproportionately affect children, but doing something like spraying border areas with low population density would probably still be a win.

I think in the US we could afford to just use malathion.

Draining Florida would best be accomplished by just declaring it an exclusion zone from human habitation :) (Florida basically terrifies me more than any other state in the US, even California)

nanidin• 14 years ago

One can always hope that this leads to innovation in mosquito repellents and mosquito targeted insecticides. Either would also have the added benefit of helping prevent the spread of malaria in other parts of the world.

I've been in SE Asia for around 6 months now and Dengue is one of the few things that truly frightens me.

melling• 14 years ago

Whatever happened to the mosquito laser?

http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20120903/07...

ovi256• 14 years ago

That was a show trick, very impressive on paper (or Youtube, as it were). At most it could be commercialized as an expensive gadget for first-worlders, if even that. Maybe in twenty years, when Moore's law will make it dirt cheap.

pretoriusB• 14 years ago

>One can always hope that this leads to innovation in mosquito repellents and mosquito targeted insecticides.

Right, because we need more repellent resistant mosquitos in the next generation...

StavrosK• 14 years ago

Yeah, let's just do nothing and not even thin out this generation.

yen223• 14 years ago

Malaysian here. Dengue is an unfortunate fact of life for us - the tropical, wet climate here makes for a great breeding ground for mosquitoes. It's not unusual for a person to be sick for a month or so due to dengue.

The fortunate thing about dengue is that it is rarely fatal. A combination of IV fluids and a lengthy hospital stay is usually enough.

The unfortunate thing is that one of the most effective methods of reducing dengue occurrences is banned in the US - spraying DDT.

buster• 14 years ago

Also worth to mention is that on Madeira (Portugal) the biggest outbreak in Europe happened since 1920. Experts say that it will spread to the mainland soon..

http://translate.google.de/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=...

munchor• 14 years ago

I'm Portuguese and this has been on the news for a few months now, it's quite scary to think of the consequences this can have when it reaches the mainland, especially in the USA, where over 200 million people live.

ra• 14 years ago

Dengue has always been around in the tropics and subtropics.

"There are around 50 million cases of dengue fever around the world each year according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Of those, about 500,000 people contract severe dengue, which is a potentially life-threatening." [1]

It's a nasty disease, but it's no Ebola.

[1] http://www.health.qld.gov.au/dengue/info/worldwide.asp

nacker2• 14 years ago

And it's much worse in Brasil.

http://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/noticia/2012-11-27/dengue-br...

http://www.healthmap.org/dengue/index.php

xradionut• 14 years ago

We've already gone through West Nile in the DFW area this year. A very mild winter followed by a wet spring helped increase the number of serious cases. There is some thought that climate changes plus increased migration to the area is creating a rich environment for health challenges like these.

sek• 14 years ago

A friend of mine caught this, it's common in Indonesia where he was.

It's not that dangerous if you are educated about it. Never take Aspirin for example, this can be life threatening, but people tend to use it here when they feel bad.

It's so difficult to educate the general population about things like that.

Vivtek• 14 years ago

There are four strains. If only one is common in Indonesia, then you're right - once through is more or less like the flu.

In Puerto Rico there are three strains endemic. The more different strains you get, the worse the disease (i.e the worse your systemic reaction).

One of my son's classmates died last year of it, in Ponce, Puerto Rico (about a year after we left PR) - he was home from the hospital, posted to Facebook "I'm not 100% yet but feeling much better", and died that night. He was 11.

Dengue sucks.

dannyr• 14 years ago

Related News:

Hundreds of thousands of genetically modified mosquitoes set to be released into the Florida Keys in experiment to fight dengue fever

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2244272/Florida-offi...

justanother• 14 years ago

The main resistance to this idea here in the Keys, is that nobody really wants to be bitten by a genetically-modified mosquito (even though the odds of it happening are miniscule, the released skeeters will be males). We have a very well-funded, state-chartered Mosquito Control District, but it is unable to enter property and conduct standing-water investigations by people who won't let that gosh darn gummit on their property without a warrant. I'd prefer both genetically-modified mosquitos, and special warrants from the governor to check standing water, to getting Dengue. Some of my friends have, and they were very sorry for weeks.

pixie_• 14 years ago

I lived in key west and always had random people in my backyard inspecting for standing water. Even woke up to a helicopter one morning overhead spraying for mosquitoes. I got dengue in 2010 and it suuuucked, the eye pain is incredible, you can't move your eyes without extreme pain. And at the time I had no idea what it was, and it turns out the awareness of it is still low because many people work in the service industry and don't have health insurance so most people avoid the doctor (like myself) didn't know I dengue until afterwards.. like the article says 5% of people in key west have had it at some point which sucks because if you get it again (and a different strain of it) anytime after in your life then you have a 20% chance of dying.. which I hate thinking about when I travel to costa rica. I got a bug zapper and have been massacring mosquitoes nightly. I dont know why there isn't one on every lamppost. /rant

soapdog• 14 years ago

back??? I live in Rio, it never left... We have thousands of sick people every year. I caught it two or three times already. Horrible thing. Its so common that we know in which months it will strike worse.

For those of non tropical countries that are really scared, there are some tricks while you have it. First and foremost: drink insane amounts of water. Dengue will take all the water out of you thru its constants diarrheas. You need water more than you need food, drink more water. You will have very high fever, control it with meds but be aware that it won't go away. You will have pain in the extremities of your body (fingers, hands...), you can try to mask it with meds but you learn to live with it for a while, makes it hard to sleep.

Here in Brazil we have something we call "Soro Caseiro" which everyone learns to prepare at home, its one of your main ally against dehydration. You mix 1 liter of water with 3.5g of salt and 20g of sugar. You drink this to prevent dehydration or in the initial phase of your dengue. If things get really bad, you will need a hospital.

On my personal experience with this nasty disease, I've found that drinking Pedialyte helped me a lot. You may think it is dumb to drink baby fluid replacement med but it works and doesn't taste as bad as "Soro Caseiro", here in Brazil we have Pedialyte flavored like orange juice, so makes it easier.

Remember dengue is a bitch and can be very serious. When you get it, you need to see a doctor. All the tips I've placed above are useless if you get the more worrisome types (which are more rare), so go see a doctor.

And remember: don't despair

nacker2• 14 years ago

Here is a terrifying but fascinating story of an artist who almost died from dengue.

http://danrhema.com/when-i-was-a-ghost/

http://www.deborahdachinger.com/dan-rhema-dramatic-near-deat...

weslly• 14 years ago

>You will have very high fever, control it with meds but be aware that it won't go away

I thought this was highly inadvisable. At least is what you see at the end of almost all painkiller advertisements in Brazil.

saosebastiao• 14 years ago

Not entirely true. A fever is a symptom of an immune system at work, but at high levels it can cause organs to fail. I was hospitalized and given ice baths when I had a 105f fever with dengue...and ice baths are considered to be a last resort for controlling a fever.

baseh• 14 years ago

Thanks for the Pedialyte tip, never heard about it but sounds helpful. Will try when I get dengue next time!

maratd• 14 years ago

Just as an FYI, at my local grocery store (Whole Foods), you can buy Electrolyte Water by the liter. It's essentially pedialyte for adults. There's also Gatorade, which is an electrolyte drink for athletes, etc.

guylhem• 14 years ago

In the FWI we have another drink with water, salt and suger to prevent dehydration. It's also prescribed to kind who have Pedialyte, because it tastes great.

It's called Coke.

Seriously, it has everything needed and is carefully dosed. Electrolytes, sugar, water, packaged in can to prevent contamination by bacterias.

alxndr• 14 years ago

TFA is saying it's back in the US.

Dengue, aka "Breakbone Fever", Is Back

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