Dengue Fever by Ray Sahelian, M.D.
Dengue is carried by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which transmits the virus that causes fever, severe headache, joint and muscular pains, vomiting and rashes. Some people can develop the potentially fatal hemorrhagic form of dengue from repeated exposure to more than one strain of the disease.
Natural supplements and herbs
that are being studied as a treatment for dengue fever
Uncaria
tomentosa is a natural plant known as cat's claw that has been studied as a
treatment for dengue fever.
Dengue fever in Brazil
In 2008 an epidemic of dengue fever killed at least 100 people and sickened more
than 100,000 in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro state.
Dengue Fever in Cambodian
Dengue fever has killed at least 102 Cambodian children from January to
September 2006,r in one of the worst outbreaks of the mosquito-borne disease
since 1998. More than 10,000 children have contracted the disease so far this
year compared to 6,000 in the same period of 2005. In the impoverished Southeast
Asian nation's last major outbreak in 1998, 424 children died out of 16,260
infected. After decades of civil war and the Khmer Rouge genocide, Cambodia's
public health system remains rudimentary, with much of its funding coming from
foreign aid. According to the World Bank, annual government spending on health
is about $3 per person.
Dengue Fever in China
Sept 2006 - The number of dengue fever cases in China's southern Guangdong
province has been increasing at a fast rate. Chinese experts have blamed the hot
and humid weather and inadequate anti-mosquito efforts for the outbreak. A
bigger outbreak sickened more than 1,000 people in Guangzhou in 2002 but none of
those cases was fatal, Small-scale outbreaks of dengue fever have been reported
occasionally in Guangdong and the southeastern province of Fujian since the
1990s, Xinhua said.
Dengue Fever in India
An outbreak of dengue fever in India has killed 42 more people and infected
another 1,000 within a four day period in October, 2006 despite authorities'
efforts to control the spread of the mosquito-borne disease. A total of 94
people have died and nearly 5,000 dengue cases have been reported since late
August 2006. The disease is spread by the bite of the female Aedes aegypti
mosquito.
Dengue Fever in Myanmar
Dengue fever has killed nearly 100 people in Myanmar till the end of July 2007,
amid a surge in cases of the mosquito-borne disease across Southeast Asia. Since
January, there have been over 8,000 dengue fever cases in the whole country. By
comparison, in the whole of 2006 the former Burma had 11,000 cases and 130
deaths.
Dengue Fever Research
Potential of crude seed extract of celery, Apium graveolens L., against
the mosquito Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae).
J Vector Ecol. 2004 Dec;29(2):340-6.
Crude seed extract of celery, Apium graveolens, was investigated for
anti-mosquito potential, including larvicidal, adulticidal, and repellent
activities against Aedes aegypti, the vector of dengue haemorrhagic fever.
Celery seed extract, therefore, can be considered as
a probable source of some biologically active compounds used in the
development of mosquito control agents, particularly repellent products.