AsianScientist (Sep. 17, 2014) – More than 100 cases of dengue have been reported in Japan a mere two weeks after the first case was confirmed on August 27, 2014. Dengue, which causes a characteristic high fever and joint pains, can lead to a complication known as dengue hemorrhagic fever and even death in severe cases.
In late August, a Japanese teenager from the Saitama Prefecture with no record of overseas travel was hospitalized for a high fever which was subsequently confirmed to have been caused by dengue. According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, this is Japan’s first domestic infection since 1945. Since then, more than 115 others have been infected with the virus as of September 15, 2014.
Although endemic throughout Southeast Asia, dengue outbreaks are rare in the more temperate climate of Japan where the principal vector, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, is not found. The disease is believed to have been introduced via international travelers and transmitted by the Aedes albopictus mosquito, found commonly across Japan. Global warming and an unusually hot and humid summer—which allowed mosquitoes to live longer and thereby increased the likelihood of disease transmission—may also have contributed to the outbreak.
“The interaction between Japan and Southeast Asia is becoming more active, which means that the outbreak was imminent,” Yoshihiro Takayama, an infectious disease expert who helped Japan’s government develop a medical system to cope with the 2009 flu pandemic, told Bloomberg reporters.
“I’m impressed doctors suspected dengue fever and decided to test patients for it.”
Tokyo’s Yoyogi Park, thought to be the epicenter of the outbreak, has been sprayed with 800 liters of pesticide and closed to the public. Other measures include advising those who had recently visited Yoyogi Park to refrain from donating blood and setting up mosquito traps to gauge the spread of the disease.
There are currently no specific treatments available for dengue, although the drug maker Sanofi has recently concluded late stage clinical trials on their promising vaccine candidate.
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Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine; Photo: Shutterstock.
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