Fears over killer ‘Ebola-like’ plague in Caribbean after boy, 8, dies of ‘internal bleeding’ fever in Jamaica
The tragic youngster from Kingston was diagnosed with dengue haemorrhagic fever, a deadly infection spread by mosquitoes
FEARS over a killer Ebola-like disease in Jamaica are mounting after an eight-year-old boy died of a fever that caused lethal internal bleeding.
The tragic youngster from Kingston was diagnosed with dengue haemorrhagic fever, a deadly infection spread by mosquitoes.
Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton yesterday confirmed the death, which occurred at the Bustamante Hospital for Children on Tuesday.
He told the : "This type of dengue carries a high risk of mortality.
"Appropriate notification has been done, and the Kingston and St Andrew health team is out conducting its surveillance."
The name of the boy has not been released as some family members had not been notified.
WHAT IS DENGUE FEVER?
- Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection.
- The infection causes flu-like illness, and occasionally develops into a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue.
- The global incidence of dengue has grown dramatically in recent decades. About half of the world's population is now at risk.
- Dengue is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas.
- Severe dengue is a leading cause of serious illness and death among children in some Asian and Latin American countries.
- There is no specific treatment for dengue/ severe dengue, but early detection and access to proper medical care lowers fatality rates below 1%.
- Dengue prevention and control depends on effective vector control measures.
- A dengue vaccine has been licensed by several National Regulatory Authorities for use in people 9-45 years of age living in endemic settings.
Source: WHO
Although dengue haemorrhagic fever is a rare strain of the disease, the illness itself affects 50 to 100 million people a year, according to the World Health Organisation.
Although the mortality rate for dengue fever is lower than some other viruses, at 2.5 per cent, the virus can cause a far more lethal Ebola-like disease called dengue haemorrhagic fever.
The disease is now endemic in more than 100 countries in Africa, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia and the Western Pacific.
The America, South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions are the most seriously affected.
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The World Health Organisation says the number of cases increasing as the disease spreads to new areas, but explosive outbreaks are occurring.
It adds that the threat of a possible outbreak of dengue fever now exists in Europe as local transmission was reported for the first time in France and Croatia in 2010 and imported cases were detected in three other European countries.
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