Dengue fever deadlier than H1N1 in LatAm

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks you’ve certainly noticed the media focus on the swine flu outbreak and its hundreds of cases throughout the Americas. Yet there is another fatal and deadlier disease which has spread throughout South America: dengue fever.

Six people have died of the mosquito-transmitted dengue disease this year in Argentina; the latest victim died from “dengue shock syndrome” last week. Nearly 23,500 cases of dengue have been officially reported in Argentina though some analysts claim that the real amount is double that.

"This is the largest epidemic in many years," said Dr. Eddy Martinez, the director of epidemiology for Bolivia's Ministry of Health in the capital city of La Paz. So far this year, over 200,000 dengue cases have been reported in Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia leading to more than sixty deaths. Additionally, the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca issued a dengue warning yesterday after 126 people have become infected including seven with the deadliest form of the disease.

Sadly, the situation could soon deteriorate and become worse than last year’s epidemic:

In 2008, more than one million cases of dengue were reported in Latin America and the Caribbean, with 554 deaths, according to the Pan American Health Organization.

There are no anti-viral drugs for dengue. Doctors must treat the symptoms, mostly dehydration and severe fever.

''It's horrible,'' said Martinez, adding that, ``if it's treated early, it's seldom fatal.''

During the southern summer, just ending, medical providers in Bolivia, Brazil and northern Argentina were overwhelmed.

International health officials are now concerned that the coming rainy season in the Caribbean may lead to further outbreaks in countries in that region.

Image- MSNBC
Online Sources- miamiherald.com, LAHT, Xinhua, The Latin Americanist, Mercopress