First published on January 05, 2011; update 4 on April 27, 2011
The Woodshed bots have scoured all available Dengue data to summarise the year 2010 to give some perspective about what has gone down in history as an unprecedented and turbulent twelve-month period.
At the end of 2009 (Figures for 2009), the Hispanic Caribbean (Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico) and the Caribbean (English, Dutch and French-speaking) regions had tabulated 34,686 Classic Dengue Fever (DF) Cases, 78 Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) Cases and 5 deaths due to Dengue. (Prior to 1999, the Dutch Caribbean did not report to Pan American Health Organization, PAHO)
Meanwhile, the number of reported cases of Dengue Fever and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever in the Americas as a whole topped a million to reach 1,662,296 DF, 48,951 DHF/DSS with 1,193 deaths.
In making the leap to December 2010, we face the daunting reality that Dengue in the wider Caribbean (Hispanic Caribbean included), soared by nearly 300% for a total of 131, 666 Classic Cases, 2, 226 Severe Dengue and 129 deaths.
The Caribbean region was largely responsible for this jump, contributing 98,849 Dengue Cases to the lot. In so doing, an outstanding record, that of the worst Dengue epidemic in recorded history, was established. In fact, no other year is even remotely comparable to 2010.
In reviewing the data for the past twelve years, from 1998 to 2010, we found that the closest annual tally to the 2010 figures was in 2006 when PAHO recorded 32,764 Dengue Cases and 303 deaths. In that year, Cuba did not report at all, therefore, no totals were available for Hispanic Caribbean, the region in which Cuba was later placed in 2007 with the DR and PR.
The worst-hit Caribbean islands by far in 2010 were the twin French Departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Dengue sickened 78,200 of their residents, 41,100 in Guadeloupe, 37,100 in Martinique; and the disease claimed 19 lives in all. French Guiana was a distant third on the list, having treated a mere 4,350 by comparison.
If we were to group the Caribbean with Hispanic Caribbean, French Guiana would drop to fifth place, making way for Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic where the Dengue virus overcame 21,298 and 11,519 people respectively. PAHO records show that 33 died in PR (Puerto Rico Health Secretary Lorenzo González says there were 31 deaths, 28 of which were of the DHF type) and 51 in the DR.
It would be premature to report on countries with no Dengue considering that not all have reported down to December 31, 2010. The most diligent of all were the Puerto Rico, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Cayman Islands, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Guyana, Montserrat, St. Lucia and (French) St. Martin (Week 52).
In the case of Puerto Rico, Health Secretary González, announced Saturday, December 30 that the worst outbreak of Dengue in the country was officially over. “It pleases us to announce today that the dengue epidemic declared in February has come to an end,” González said.
In the weeks leading up to González’ declaration, the incidence of Dengue had fallen steadily so that by the Week of December 03-09 at which time the number of cases was 60 less than the epidemic threshold, the Centers for Disease Control expressed satisfaction that the end to the outbreak had come. Nevertheless, the 188 cases recorded in Week 48 was still over and above the historical average for that time of year. The outbreak began in February 2010, a year that was arguably one of the rainiest ever. (Source: caribbeanbusinesspr.com)
Not surprisingly, Cuba had no more than a week’s worth of facts to share with PAHO. The United States Virgin Islands, Haiti and St. Barths did not even bother to get off the mark with the organization.
The viruses that circulated the Caribbean and Hispanic Caribbean were Dengue-1, Dengue-2, Dengue-3 and Dengue-4. Considering that not all countries have reported to the end of 2010 and that no serotyping information was shared by several of them, it could not be said with every bit of certainty that Barbados was the only country to have circulated Dengue-3 in 2010 as the records indicate.
What does this say? It means that it will be some time yet before the 2010 Dengue chapter is closed. As time goes by, we will flesh out the numbers, country by country.
Current Trends, 2011Mosquito-borne diseases – Worldwide
2010 saw an almost world-wide increase in mosquito-borne diseases, especially dengue fever. For example, officials in Malaysia reported a 12 percent increase in dengue infections in 2010 over 2009, and officials in Singapore reported a 19 percent increase in 2010. Dengue fever increases were even more drastic in Latin America, where officials in Puerto Rico reported a 50 percent increase in 2010, officials in Venezuela reported an 82 percent increase, and officials in Brazil reported a 90 percent increase. Indigenous dengue fever infections were also reported in Florida, US, for the first time in decades. As climate change continues to expand the territories of disease-bearing mosquitoes, we may continue to see increases in such mosquito-borne diseases as dengue fever, malaria, and West Nile virus. (Source: ijet.com)P.S.: In the state of Goiania, Brazil, there was a 190 percent increase in Dengue Cases for the period January to November 20, 2010 over the corresponding period the year before. Translated into real numbers, this amounts to 102, 726 cases and 69 deaths in that one state.
The situation may not be as bad in Sao Paulo, but it is bad enough. That state recorded 322 cases in all of 2009. By comparison, the total as at November 10, 2010 was 5, 576 for an incidence rate of 51.6 cases per 100, 000 inhabitants of which there are 11 million.
THING YOU DID NOT KNOW ABOUT MOSQUITOES.... It would take 1,200,000 mosquitoes, each sucking once, to completely drain the average human of blood. (Sources: discovermagazine.com / anannimos.blogspot.com) - Now you know.
