News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Saying dengue virus infections and deaths have mushroomed in recent years, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently released a strategy report that sets a goal of cutting deaths in half and reducing cases by 25% over the next 8 years.

(CIDRAP News) – Researchers estimate that more than 5.6 million dengue virus infections occur in the Americas annually, costing an average of $2.1 billion, according to a study published yesterday in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

(CIDRAP News) – The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has launched a clinical trial of a dengue virus vaccine, a product that eventually may help prevent a disease to which 2.5 billion people are exposed.

The launching of a trial at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public in Baltimore and the University of Vermont in Burlington follows more than a decade of development, the NIAID said in a press release.

(CIDRAP News) – Brazil's health ministry said this week that it has asked the military to help combat mosquitoes that spread dengue fever, as the number of sick patients with the disease grew to at least 55,000 so far this year.

Though dengue fever is common in Brazil, officials have said this year's outbreak is the worst in recent memory, averaging 1.4 new cases per minute, according to a report today from CNN.

(CIDRAP News) – Global health officials have noted sharp rises in the number of dengue fever cases in recent months, particularly in Latin American, Caribbean, and Asian countries where the disease is endemic.