Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Earth Science News .




EPIDEMICS
Dengue showing global 'epidemic potential': WHO
by Staff Writers
Geneva (AFP) Jan 16, 2013


The World Health Organisation said on Wednesday that it had charted progress in the fight against tropical diseases but warned that dengue fever was spreading at an alarming rate.

"In 2012, dengue ranked as the fastest spreading vector-borne viral disease, with an epidemic potential in the world, registering a 30-fold increase in disease incidence over the past 50 years," the Geneva-based UN agency said in a report released Wednesday.

The increased transmission rate of the deadly mosquito-borne disease was due to climate change and a greater movement of people, the agency said.

An annual two million cases of dengue fever were reported over the last two years by 100 countries, with between 5,000 to 6,000 of them resulting in death.

But the WHO's Raman Velayudhan said the disease was likely underreported and estimated there were as many as 50 million cases a year with more than 20,000 deaths.

Dengue is spread by one of four viruses transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. It causes high fever, headaches, itching and joint pains. At an advanced stage it can lead to haemorrhaging and death.

But the agency also reported "unprecedented progress against 17 neglected tropical diseases", saying for example that rabies had been eliminated in several countries.

It added that guinea worm -- a water-borne infection that causes agonising pain and leaves sufferers unable to function for months -- was on its way to total eradication.

.


Related Links
Epidemics on Earth - Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








EPIDEMICS
Medicinal toothbrush tree yields antibiotic to treat TB in new way
Norwich UK (SPX) Jan 16, 2013
A compound from the South African toothbrush tree inactivates a drug target for tuberculosis in a previously unseen way. Tuberculosis causes more deaths worldwide than any other bacterial disease. At the same time as rates are increasing, resistance strains are emerging due, in part, to non-compliance with the treatment required. Many current drugs are nearly 50 years old and alternatives are ne ... read more


EPIDEMICS
Canada to resettle up to 5,000 Iranian, Iraqi refugees

China factory fire hidden by thick smog: media

Allianz sticks to profit goal despite Hurricane Sandy hit

Hannover Re hit by 261-million-euro loss from Sandy

EPIDEMICS
ECAPS signs contract with Skybox for complete propulsion system

Boeing Grows Composite Manufacturing Capability in Utah

Molecular machine could hold key to more efficient manufacturing

Study reveals ordinary glass's extraordinary properties

EPIDEMICS
MBL scientists find 'bipolar' marine bacteria, refuting 'everything is everywhere' idea

Wales, fishermen discuss protection zones

Living cells behave like fluid-filled sponges

Taiwan mulls shipping water from China as ties improve

EPIDEMICS
Will changes in climate wipe out mammals in Arctic and sub-Arctic areas?

Global warming opening up Russia's Arctic

Antarctic lake reached after millennia

A new approach to assessing future sea level rise from ice sheets

EPIDEMICS
How does your garden glow?

EU hints at insecticide ban over threat to bees

Using lysine estimates to detect heat damage in DDGS

Study shows pine beetle outbreak buffers watersheds from nitrate pollution

EPIDEMICS
Four children die in Mozambique floods

Mozambique floods kill 2, destroy homes

Volcano lava flows worry Italian island

Faulty Behavior

EPIDEMICS
Hollande, in Gulf, defends France's Mali offensive

French marines in Mali wait for orders to join the fight

Mali Islamists flee bases, battered by French airstrikes

U.S. frets it'll get dragged into Mali war

EPIDEMICS
Eliminating useless information important to learning, making new memories

Tech world crawling into the crib

Promising compound restores memory loss and reverses symptoms of Alzheimer's

Dopamine-receptor gene variant linked to human longevity




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement