ELLA BATES-HERMANS/Stuff
Mosquitoes kill roughly a million people a year, and avoiding their bites isn’t always easy.
A Safe Travel warning has been issued to New Zealanders heading overseas as dengue fever spreads in tropical holiday hotspots.
While there are ongoing outbreaks across several continents, Peru is currently experiencing its worst ever outbreak of Dengue Fever, with approximately 130,000 people infected in 2023 and more than 200 dying as a result.
The breakdown
- Dengue fever is a viral infection spread by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which can lead to severe illness and in rare cases death.
- Dengue fever is found in tropical and subtropical climates around the world including: Africa, the Central and South Americas, the Mediterranean Region, South-East Asia, and the Western Pacific region including North Queensland (Australia) and Pacific Island countries.
- There are ongoing outbreaks of dengue fever in South-East Asia, Africa and Pacific countries.
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) has urged travellers to take precautions when travelling to affected countries, such as using mosquito repellent, staying in places with screens on windows and doors and using mosquito coils.
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Why it matters
- MFAT says increased business and holiday travel to countries affected by dengue fever increases the risk of the number of dengue cases and outbreaks around the world.
- As there is no specific cure or widely available vaccine for dengue, MFAT says the most important thing is to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes when visiting areas where the virus is endemic.
- Symptoms include high fever, headache, pain behind the eyes, joint pain, muscle and bone pain, rash and mild bleeding, such as nose bleeds. A small proportion of dengue fever cases can lead to shock or death.
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The history
- Dengue fever has never been acquired in New Zealand as we don’t have the type of mosquito which carries the virus. However, it is endemic in many countries New Zealand travellers flock to for a mid-winter break.
- Toafei Telefoni, a 12-year-old Auckland girl, died of dengue fever while on a family trip to Tonga in January 2018. Doctors failed to diagnose her with dengue fever until her fourth visit to hospital in Tonga.
- Former national ski champion Philippa Greig likely died of dengue fever in 2019 after falling rapidly ill while in holiday in Mexico.
Healthmap.org/Supplied
Healthmap.org has listed 41 alerts for Dengue Fever in the past month.
Learn more
- Healthmap.org has listed 41 alerts for Dengue Fever across the world in the past month, take a closer look at the hotspot map here.
- Between July 2001 and March 2018, according to a study Ammar published, the dengue-carrying Aedes aegypti was intercepted at the border 29 times (11 times as larvae, the rest as adults)
- In May 2023, Nelson-based small-pharma company made a significant breakthrough in creating a drug to combat both the Dengue and Zika viruses. They hope to begin clinical testing in the about two years.