Question

Three ways to address the environmental impact of dengue fever

Answer 1

Dengue fever, together with associated dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF), is the most important vector-borne viral disease affecting humans. Aedes aegypti, the urban yellow fever mosquito, is also the principal dengue-carrying vector. A secondary vector is Aedes albopictus.

ADRESSING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF DENGUE FEVER:

1)Social and environmental factors – including increased urbanization (particularly of poor populations lacking basic health services and hygienic conditions)

2) Climate change also may affect transmission, as dengue mosquitoes reproduce more quickly and bite more frequently at higher temperatures

3) Depending on the local level of immunity, therefore, an epidemic may erupt at higher or lower thresholds of vector density among population.