Context:- In anticipation of an impending El Nino event expected in 2023 and 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) is gearing up for a heightened risk of arbovirus transmission, including diseases like Zika and chikungunya. Dengue Cases are surging as El Nino brings ideal conditions for mosquito breeding.
Statistics and Data
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), dengue is now endemic in over 100 countries. As many as 3.6 billion people, or 40% of the world’s population, reside in dengue-endemic areas. Each year, an estimated 400 million people are infected with dengue virus. Approx. 100 million become ill with dengue, and 21,000 deaths are happens due to dengue.
Global Concerns of Dengue Outbreaks
Countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Jamaica, Vietnam, Sudan, and Peru are grappling with the most severe dengue outbreaks in their histories. Health authorities attribute the disease’s rapid spread to the warm phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation, which fosters ideal conditions for mosquito breeding. The WHO has underscored this potential correlation.
How El-Nino is Related to Vector Borne Diseases?
El Nino, characterized by elevated surface water temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific Ocean. It is poised to trigger extreme weather patterns, ranging from tropical cyclones targeting susceptible Pacific islands to heavy rainfall in South America and droughts in parts of Australia and Asia.
The head of WHO has cautioned that climate change is exacerbating mosquito proliferation. It is contributing to a sharp rise in dengue cases over recent decades, particularly in the Americas.
About Dengue and its Symptoms
Dengue, transmitted through bites from Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Along with it manifests symptoms like fever, eye pain, headaches, muscle and joint pain, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue.
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