Dengue Fever : A Viral Illness Essay

Summary: The yellow fever outbreak that took place in Africa this past year was a hidden disaster which exposed the flaws in the emergency vaccine supply. The epidemic essentially exposed a race between the mosquitos that spread yellow fever and the vaccines that protect people against yellow fever. Early in December 2015 in Africa, the first few deaths by yellow fever were misdiagnosed as merely food poisoning. As soon as the true culprit was exposed, emergency stockpiles of vaccines were exhausted before a small region was protected. However, the outbreak was mitigated due to the help of a colossal vaccine campaign that stretched the supplies by diluting vaccine doses all thanks to special donors such as Brazil and South Sudan. This outbreak barely got any coverage or attention due to the focus being on the Zika Virus epidemic. The yellow fever virus reached Asia via workers who worked in Africa; if the virus got a base in Asia, it would have been very traumatic. The virus was spreading to major

Yellow fever is a deadly disease caused by a viral infection that is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito. Although it is found to be most common in males in their early 20's, yellow fever can affect any sex, race, or age. Since yellow fever is carried by mosquitoes, it is most often found in areas such as Central America, the northern half of South America, and Central Africa where mosquitoes are abundant. The reason why it is found so often in these

Since 1999, the West Nile virus spread geographically throughout North America, except for two states, Alaska and Hawaii, which till this day does not have occurrences of WNV statistically shown by the CDC (2014). The introduction of the WNV resulted in the United States centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to initiate what was known as the National West Nile Virus Surveillance System for 2000. These objectives include:

West Nile virus is the most significant exotic mosquito-borne disease that has come to the contiguous United States in the last century. Outbreaks have proven extremely difficult to predict and control and have been associated with considerable morbidity. The large outbreak in 2012, which caught many by surprise, indicates that West Nile virus will remain a formidable public health challenge for years to come (“FAQ: West Nile Virus,” par. 3).

The cause of Yellow fever was unknown for a long time until a Cuban physician introduced a new theory in the late eighteenth century. It was not completely discovered that Yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes until 1881. The Cuban physician’s

“In 2012, the United States had one of its most intense West Nile seasons since 1999: 2873 cases of neuroinvasive disease and 286 deaths were reported” (Voelker, 2014, p. 2164). In 2013, another 2469 cases were reported, and of those cases 51% were neuroinvasive disease in 47 states plus the District of Columbia (Voelker, 2014). Of the 51% that were infected by the neuroinvasive disease, 53% had encephalitis, 38% had meningitis, and 9% had acute flaccid paralysis (Voelker, 2014). From the 9% that had acute flaccid paralysis, 76% had encephalitis or meningitis (Voelker, 2014). The highest incidence rates were in North Dakota and South Dakota (Voelker, 2014). Of the reported cases 50% of the West Nile Virus neuroinvasive disease were reported in California, Texas, Colorado, Illinois, North Dakota, and Oklahoma (Voelker, 2014). In 2015, 2,060 cases were reported in 48 states and the District of Columbia, and of those cases 1,360 cases the people were infected with the neuroinvasive disease (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). The numbers may have decreased from 2012 to 2015, however the number of reported cases across the United States is still significant, especially with the amount of reported cases of the neuroinvasive symptoms of the disease. Decisions need to me made about the potential for increased surveillance by organizations to monitor for future threats and outbreaks, and about increasing educational awareness in public health to limit

CNN observes that the west nile virus is an illness spread by infected mosquitoes. The west nile virus has killed many people and you should use bug spray when you go outside mainly at night. The symptoms of the west nile virus take a while to show up and sometimes you will have this virus but get no symptoms. West nile virus can be deadly and harmless, but then when you get it who knows if it will be bad or good. (“CNN” 2016). This evidence supports my thesis statement because it answers

Yellow fever was not caused by miasma in the atmosphere like the inhabitants of Philadelphia thought. The actual cause of the fever would not be known until the nineteenth century. The United States’ invasion of Cuba would lead to the discovery of the cause. A man named Walter Reed discovered that the virus was caused by the female Aedes aegypti mosquito in the year 1900. It would not be until 1930 with the work of a man named Max Theiler that a vaccine would be developed.

The country is malaria-free and only a few cases of dengue fever borne by mosquitoes are recorded every year within the local population

By learning about different viruses in class, it sparked my interest in further researching a common virus known to the word called West Nile virus. Affiliated with the genus Flavivirus, this virus can be transported globally due to being classified as a mosquito-borne arbovirus1. Mosquitoes, belonging to the genus Culex, can facilitate the transportation of this pathogen by consuming the blood of an infected bird, being the main reservoir, and then passing it on to another animal or human1-3. Mosquito activity is at its peak during the months of summer and autumn, therefore these months depict the most cases of West Nile virus4. Humans play no role in the transportation as they are coined dead end hosts due to not being able to produce enough

West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne virus. The agent of West Nile is described as being a “mosquito-borne enveloped positive-strand RNA virus that emerged in 1999 in North America, specifically in New York City” (Public/Publisher Medline, 2015). Since its spread to North America it has continued to spread throughout the United States and even places such as Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. However, its first emergence was in 1937 in Uganda (Medline Plus, 2014). According to Pub Med, there are now more than 41,000 clinical cases of West Nile virus which also includes 1700 fatalities. Moreover there is an estimation of “3 million people in the United States that have been infected since last year” (Pub Med, 2015).

The public health system as increased capacity to be able to diagnose and monitor WNV infections in human, they can measure the transmission activity in vector mosquitoes, and put forth effective control plans for this virus. Incorporated in this plan is providing guidance to all health departments in being able to monitor and mitigate the WNV risk to humans. The surveillance of human disease continues nationwide to assess the impact that WNV is having on the human population. By itself, human disease surveillance is limited in its capability to predict the large focal outbreaks, which is a characteristic of this disease. Therefore, environmental surveillance is important in monitoring enzootic and epizootic WNV transmission in mosquitoes and birds (West Nile Virus, 2013). This creates a timelier index of risk and is extremely important for implementing effective WNV mitigation efforts. Through research and operational experience, we can show that increases in WNV infection rates in mosquito populations can give an indication of developing outbreak conditions several weeks ahead of

Hernandez-Triana, L.M., Jeffries, C.L., Mansfield, K.L., Camell, G., Fooks, A.R., and Johnson, N. (2014). Emergence of West Nile Virus Lineage 2 in Europe: A Review on the Introduction and spread of a Mosquito-Borne Disease. Frontiers in Public Health 271: 1-8.

According to WHO, the virus can happen in forty countries square by..can a virus like dengue and that affects the human body from mosquito bites if mosquito bites a person, its symptoms or go to the hospital.

Dengue Fever is a common disease that can be contracted by people who are visiting South-East Asia. The way a person contracts this disease is through mosquito bites. The patient has stated that when she was traveling abroad that she was bitten by a multitude of mosquitos, one of which could have infected her with the disease. On top of that common symptoms include, high fever, fatigue, headache, muscle and joint pain. All of these symptoms have been experienced by our patient. It is important to note that dengue fever does produce a rash, however, our patient’s rash has gone aware.