Afro-Egypt J Infect Endem Dis 2011 Dec ;1(2):A1

 

Threat of Dengue Fever and Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever to Egypt from Travelers

 

El-Bahnasawy MM , KhaliL HH , Morsy AT , Morsy TA

 

Departments of Tropical Medicine1,3, Internal Medicine2, and Parasitology4 ,Faculty of Medicine2,4, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt, Military Medical Academy1, and The Ministry of Interior Hospitals3, Cairo, Egypt.
Mamdouh25@hotmail.com

 

                              

 

ABSTRACT

Dengue (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fevers (DHF) are present in urban and suburban areas in the Americas, South-East Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Western Pacific, but dengue fever is present mainly in the rural areas of Africa. Several factors have combined to produce epidemiological conditions in developing countries in the tropics and subtropics that favor viral transmission by the main mosquito vector, Aedes aegypti as the rapid population growth, rural-urban migration, inadequate basic urban infrastructure (e.g. the unreliable water supply leading householders to store water in containers close to homes) and the increase in volume of solid waste, such as discarded plastic containers and other abandoned items which provide larval habitats in urban areas. Geographical expansion of the mosquito has been aided by the international commercial trade particularly in used car-tires which easily accumulate rainwater. Increased air travel and the breakdown of vector control measures have also contributed greatly to the global burden of DF and DH fevers. The presence of Aedes aegypti and endemic DF and DHF in the neighboring regional countries must be born in mind of the Public Health Authorities.