Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Dengue and Zika and: Oh Crap Yellow fever

I often point out that the hysteria about Zika, which causes some infants to be born microcephalic, does not have as high a mortality as does Dengue, which is epidemic here in SEAsia. But both are carried by the same mosquito.

Wikipedia:

The yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) is a mosquito that canspread dengue feverchikungunya,Zika fever and yellow fever viruses, and other diseases.



and I also pointed out in an earlier blogpost that there is an epidemic of yellow fever in Angola, and that several cases had been accidentally exported to China when their workers returned from that country.

Well, be afraid, be very afraid:

UKTelegraph: Yellow fever epidemic hits the Congo.

more at Science Daily from May warned:


Evidence is mounting that the current outbreak of yellow fever is becoming the latest global health emergency, say two Georgetown University professors who call on the World Health Organization to convene an emergency committee under the International Health Regulations.
In addition, with frequent emerging epidemics, they call for the creation of a "standing emergency committee" to be prepared for future health emergencies.
 In their JAMA Viewpoint published online May 9, Daniel Lucey, MD, MPH, and Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown, explain that the ongoing spread, and potential future spread, of yellow fever coupled with a limited vaccine supply should compel the WHO to "urgently convene an emergency committee to mobilize funds, coordinate an international response, and spearhead a surge in vaccine production."


and the WHO is on it: Their 19 May 2016 report says they plan to work on vector control, surveillence, and making sure that travelers get their shots.

But as of May they didn't think it was a big deal:

Based on these views and the currently available information, the Director-General accepted the Committee’s assessment that the current yellow fever situation is serious and of great concern and requires intensified control measures, but does not constitute a PHEIC (Public Health Emergency of International Concern) at this time...
and when it hits, you will hear about Global warming as the cause (just ignore those stories of the 1793 Yellow fever epidemic in Philadelpia)

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