Friday, January 25, 2013

Today's Video: Deadly Dengue

Numerous countries throughout the Americas including Brazil, Paraguay and Venezuela are on high alert due to the latest outbreak of dengue in the region.  As the below video shows, the dengue outbreak in Peru has hit residents of the remote Amazon region particularly hard:

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) dengue has the potential to become a global epidemic since last year it was the "fastest spreading vector-borne viral disease" in the world.  The WHO blamed climate change and greater migration between countries as the causes of the increase in the mosquito-borne disease.

Unfortunately, dengue has no cure and the development of a vaccine is very difficult according to National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci:
“The problem with a dengue vaccine is that unlike other viruses where if you get infected with one or vaccinated with one you’re protected, period, after you recover.  Whereas with dengue since there are four types, a vaccine needs to protect you against all four, because if you are only protected against one or two, you are still susceptible to one or the other of the three or four viruses,” Fauci said.
Online Soures - Univision.com, Mercopress, Globovision, France24, Voice of America

Video Source - YouTube via Al Jazeera English     

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