Honduras: MSF tackles outbreak of dengue fever

Via Medecins Sans Frontieres, excerpt :

" Due to an alarming increase in cases of dengue fever in Honduras this year, MSF has launched an emergency intervention in Tegucigalpa, the capital of the Central American country, where the majority of cases have been reported. MSF is supporting local health services with a three-pronged approach focusing on medical care, vector control and community education. This sort of dengue intervention is relatively new for MSF.

Already, more than 80 children have been treated in an emergency paediatric ward set up by MSF. Mobile teams are also working with the local health authorities to identify and eliminate sources of infection in 4,000 households in the Tegucigalpa area.

Dengue, endemic in Central America, is a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes. Symptoms are similar to flu, with headaches, fever, nausea, abdominal pain and rashes on the skin. The most severe form, haemorrhagic dengue, causes bleeding and can lead to irreversible shock and subsequent death.

In Honduras, cases of the common form of dengue have significantly increased in 2010 compared to the previous year, with more than 50,000 cases already reported. However, the most alarming feature of this outbreak is the prevalence of haemorrhagic dengue, with more than 1,500 cases reported and 160 deaths - a massive 1,850 percent increase on 2009. “I had come across the previous kind of dengue,” said Herminia Moncada, whose son was recently admitted to hospital with the disease. “But this is different. This dengue kills.”