Blog 3: The Dengue Virus and a Vaccine

This article talked about Dengue virus vaccine this virus is transmitted by mosquitoes. The Dengue virus is a risk to half the world’s population, this virus became a worldwide problem in the 1950s (www.cdc.gov/dengue). We, in North America are familiar with West Nile virus, which is also transmitted by mosquitoes. Both viruses are dangerous. There are four types of Dengue viruses and this virus is mostly found in Puerto Rico, and other countries like Latin America and Southeast Asia, rarely found here in North America. The CDC article stated that there is an endemic in certain areas (www.cdc.gov/dengue). “The Dengue virus main symptoms are severe headache, severe eye pain, joint pain, muscle pain, bone pain, rash, mild bleeding from nose or gums, and low white cell count. The warning signs are severe abdominal pain, vomiting blood, drowsiness or irritability, pale or clammy skin, and difficulty breathing. This virus can lead to death (www.cdc.gov/dengue/Symptoms/index.html).”

The article states that “the vaccine that has been tested in a large clinical trial is only 30 percent effective. Keep in mind that there are four Dengue virus types. According to the article, there is no known prevention. This article also states that World Health Organization estimates that 50 million to 100 million infections occur each year, mainly in tropical and subtropical countries. This disease now affects more than 100 countries. There is other test being done (www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/health/a-dengue-vaccine-falls-short-of-expectations.html?_r=).”

Another article “A Step Forward in the Fight Against Dengue” dated 09/12/12, two days from the original article, stated that The Lancet released the first results; “giving a mixture of both promise and unresolved challenges. There is a much larger clinical trial taking place in several countries. By 2014, the scientists should have some ideas about the effectiveness of the vaccine (www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-orin-levine/dengue-fever-vaccine_b_1873953.html).”

References:

www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/health/a-dengue-vaccine-falls-short-of-expectations.html?_r=1

www.cdc.gov/dengue

.huffingtonpost.com/dr-orin-levine/dengue-fever-vaccine_b_1873953.html