Virus

- Dengue fever virus (DENV) is an RNA virus of the family Flaviviridae; genus Flavivirus

Scientific Name

History

The first record of a case of probable dengue fever is in a Chinese medical encyclopedia
from the Jin Dynasty (265420 AD) which referred to a water poison associated with flying
insects. The first recognized Dengue epidemics occurred almost simultaneously in Asia,
Africa, and North America in the 1780s, shortly after the identification and naming of the
disease in 1779. The first confirmed case report dates from 1789 and is by Benjamin Rush,
who coined the term "breakbone fever" because of the symptoms of myalgia and arthralgia.

The viral etiology and the transmission by mosquitoes were only deciphered in the 20th
century. The socioeconomic impact of World War II resulted in increased spread globally (see
also Dengue epidemiology). Nowadays, about 2.5 billion people, or 40% of the worlds
population, live in areas where there is a risk of dengue transmission (see figure 1). Dengue
spread to more than 100 countries in Asia, the Pacific, the Americas, Africa, and the
Caribbean.

Statistic

According to the health ministry of malaysia, 336 people an average of 28 a month died
from dengue in 2015 compared to 215 in 2014, a rise of 56.3%.

There was also an increase of 11.2% in the number of dengue cases throughout 2015, up
from 108,698 in 2014 to 120,836 cases.

Thats 333 cases a month or 110 cases each day

High Risk Area

- Dengue is the fastest-growing mosquito-borne viral infection, and its impact today is 30
times greater than 50 years ago.

As recently as the 1970s, less than 10 countries had reported epidemics of severe dengue.
These days, dengue is present in over 150 countries.

While most reported cases are in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Western Pacific,
dengue also is present in many African countries. And it is spreading to Europe, as well as in
the USA, and China.

- According to the health ministrys data there are 145 dengue hotspots in Malaysia, with
Selangor having the highest number of hotspots at 107. Other hotspots are in Johor (23),
Perak (9), and Penang (3), while Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Negri Sembilan and Sabah have
one each.

Causes and Symptoms

- Dengue fever is passed on by a mosquito bite, mostly the Aedes aegypti mosquito. The
infection causes a wide range of symptoms, including fever, headache, pain behind the eyes,
muscle and joint pain, and rash. People infected with dengue often also experience long-
term fatigue.

-Dengue occasionally develops into a life-threatening form (known as severe dengue), which
causes abdominal pain and vomitting, breathing difficulty and a decrease in of blood platelets
that can lead to internal bleeding.