Blog post #3 Dengue virus is spreading

In Pakistan there has been 5000 cases of dengue and 17 deaths from the mosquito-borne disease. The recent monsoon rainfall has led to a widespread flooding, adding to the poor public hygiene and a general lack of control measures. Many of these deaths occurred in Punjab, 12 to be exact, and this location is also the site of a backed up sewage system, which is the ideal place for mosquitos to breed. The virus has been spreading to other parts of the country including Sindh, which has recently reported 85,404 cases of malaria, this province is now seeing an increase in reported cases each day, and experts state the fear of the disease moving south. The Punjab government has issued a ten-day closure for schools and universities, and the infected areas are being fumigated twice a day, and insecticides are planned to be purchased from Sri Lanka. The government has also began to purchase medicine form the U.K and India, and now there is approximately 5000 people visiting the hospital every day to be tested for dengue, while political officials claim that the media is over exaggerating. The symptoms of the Dengue virus include high fever, severe headaches, muscle and bone pain, and hemorrhagic fever, this virus has no vaccine nor specific treatment, and as many as 50million people contract the disease every year, which causes 20,000 of the deaths worldwide.

    Mosquitos seem to be spreading a lot of diseases that are killing a lot of people around the world. Like my previous post said, they breed in damp cool places, and with recent hurricanes, and flooding, they could begin to make their way to other countries, carrying the disease with them. Since there is no vaccine for this virus, and no known cure, it would be a epidermic even in the U.S. Even if the Punjab's were to get the insecticides it would only lead to a stronger population of the mosquitos to carry on the virus. Woman and children are dying, and all the government can say is that the media is over dramatizing the outbreak, that is really sad. The world needs to help his fellow man, if science worked together, im sure they would find a way to make sure no one else gets infected, before we all are.

http://healthmap.org/news/dengue-plagues-pakistan%E2%80%99s-most-populous-province