Dengue Fever News and Research

RSS

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms typically begin three to fourteen days after infection. These may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash.

Researchers discover quick new way that mosquitoes can pass West Nile virus to each other

The new study challenges fundamental assumptions about the virus' transmission cycle and may help explain why it spread so rapidly across North America despite experts' predictions that it would progress more slowly or even die out.

6 Jun 2005

Hong Kong looks at relationship between climatic factors and infectious diseases

The relationship between climatic factors and infectious diseases is being studied by the Hong Kong Government to see whether there is a major or direct link, Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Dr York Chow says.

11 May 2005

Experimental vaccine targeting West Nile virus

A small trial testing the safety of an experimental vaccine targeting West Nile virus (WNV) opened today at the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD.

19 Apr 2005

Medical Services International signs $25 mil Chinese contract

Medical Services International has announced that it has signed a $25,500,000 US contract to supply the VScan HIV test kit in the People's Republic of China.

1 Mar 2005

Low-technology approaches to mosquito control can be effective

Over 380 000 people have been protected from dengue fever in Vietnam thanks to the implementation of a novel strategy to control mosquitoes in the country, concludes a report in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

10 Feb 2005

Malaria experts to unveil top-flight research during international conference

Some of the world’s leading authorities on tropical diseases and parasitic infections will gather for an international conference at The University of Nottingham to discuss the latest breakthroughs in research and treatments.

3 Feb 2005

Biodegradable mosquito trap - latest weapon against the spread of dengue fever

University of Queensland researchers are working with a biodegradable packaging business, < Plantic>, James Cook University and Queensland Health to design and produce the traps.

18 Jan 2005

Is open source the answer for finding cures for tropical diseases?

Only about 1% of newly developed drugs are for tropical diseases, such as African sleeping sickness and dengue fever. While patent incentives have driven commercial pharmaceutical companies to make Western health care the envy of the world, the commercial model only works if companies can sell enough patented products to cover their R&D costs and produce profits for shareholders.

28 Dec 2004

PAHO urges donors to wait for assessment of Asian tragedy's needs

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is urging all citizens, organizations and governments wishing to help the tsunami victims in southern and Southeast Asia to wait for an assessment of what's needed before sending anything.

28 Dec 2004

$73 million to tackle infectious diseases such as West Nile virus and influenza

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded 14 contracts totaling more than $73 million to fund the Large-Scale Antibody and T Cell Epitope Discovery Program, an initiative aimed at quickly identifying the regions of selected infectious agents that elicit immune reactions.

1 Nov 2004

Microcrustaceans defeat dengue fever

Dengue fever causes 50 million infections annually in more than 90 countries; however this may soon become a thing of the past, as QIMR broadens its successful and totally environmentally-friendly mosquito-breeding control programs against dengue fever.

22 Oct 2004

Determining the age of female mosquitoes may be crucial to halting the spread of diseases like malaria

A recent project at The Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Australia found that determining the age of female mosquitoes may be crucial to halting the spread of diseases like malaria that kill 2 million people annually.

2 Aug 2004

As humans alter land, infectious diseases follow

As people remake the world's landscapes, cutting forests, draining wetlands, building roads and dams, and pushing the margins of cities ever outward, infectious diseases are gaining new toeholds, cropping up in new places and new hosts, and posing an ever-increasing risk to human and animal health.

5 Jul 2004

2,332 dengue fever cases reported in Philippines this year

The Philippines Department of Health (DOH) today reported that a total of 2,332 dengue cases has been admitted to sentinel hospitals nationwide from January 1 to May 15 this year. There were sixteen deaths recorded.

16 Jun 2004

Tuberculosis test kits order

Medical Services International Inc.has announced that it has received its first order for the VScan Tuberculosis (TB) rapid test kit from a prominent pharmaceutical company that produces Tuberculosis vaccines.

2 Jun 2004

Positive Chinese results for HIV test kit

Medical Services International Inc. has announced that it has received additional test results from the People's Republic of China related to its VScan HIV test kit. The results of an additional 1200 tests show that the test kit had a sensitivity of 99.4% and a specificity of 99.9%.

21 May 2004

WHO reports on dengue haemorrhagic fever in Indonesia

From January 1 to April 30 2004, a total of 58,301 cases of dengue fever and dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF) and 658 deaths have been registered with the Indonesian Ministry of Health (see previous report ). The case-fatality rate of 1.1% is lower this year than in previous years.

12 May 2004

Computers to combat disease

A new initiative harnesses the USA's computing skill to enhance our ability to respond to disease epidemics and bioterrorism.

4 May 2004

Canadian company requested to ship Dengue Fever test kits to Hong Kong immediately

Medical Services International Inc. has announced that it has been requested to ship VScan Dengue Fever test kits to Hong Kong immediately.

27 Apr 2004

WHO update on Dengue fever in Indonesia

From 1 January to 4 April 2004 a total of 52,013, mainly hospitalized cases of dengue and 603 deaths have been registered with the Indonesian Ministry of Health. The overall case-fatality rate this year, particularly in Jakarta, has been lower than in previous years.

8 Apr 2004