PAHO analyzes social, economic and epidemiological trends.

2002 DEC 18 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Dengue has become a major international public health problem, with a dramatic expansion in recent decades. The mosquito that transmits dengue is found in nearly 100 tropical countries.

Every year, there are between 50 and 100 million new infections, with 250,000 to 500,000 cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever, which can be fatal. In view of the difficulties and the expenditures faced by countries with national programs to fight the mosquito, a vaccine against dengue would offer a possible speedy solution to control the problem globally.

The impact of dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever is enormous, representing significant economic burdens on affected communities. They suffer loss of lives, medical expenditures for hospitalization of patients, loss of work, considerable expenditures for community programs to control mosquitoes, interruption of health care services, and negative impacts on the economy in terms of loss of tourism.

Fifty experts from different countries, including Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, Venezuela, El Salvador, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, met at the headquarters of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to review, analyze and prepare proposals on how to reduce the social, economic and epidemiological burden of dengue. The meeting was convened by PAHO, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative. It continues a ...