Guest guest Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Dengue Fever May Threaten U.S.: Report Reuters Health Information 2008. © 2008 Reuters Ltd. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world. WASHINGTON (Reuters) Jan 09 - Dengue fever may be poised to spread across the United States, health officials said on Tuesday. Cases of the mosquito-borne disease have been reported in Texas and this may be the beginning of a new trend, said Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and his senior scientific adviser, Dr. Morens. A warming climate and less-than-stellar efforts to control mosquitoes could accelerate its spread northwards, they cautioned. " Widespread appearance of dengue in the continental United States is a real possibility, " they write in a commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association. " Worldwide, dengue is among the most important reemerging infectious diseases, with an estimated 50 to 100 million annual cases, 500,000 hospitalizations and, by World Health Organization estimates, 22,000 deaths, mostly in children. " They liken dengue to West Nile virus, which first appeared in New York in 1999 and has now spread to the entire continental United States, Canada and Mexico. West Nile killed at least 98 people in the United States last year. Both viruses are carried by mosquitoes. Dengue can be carried by the Aedes albopictus or Asian tiger mosquito -- first seen in 1985 in the United States -- as well as the more common Aedes aegypti species. " The combined effects of global urbanization and increasing air travel are expected to make dengue a growing international health problem for the foreseeable future, " Drs. Fauci and Morens state. **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape. http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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