Threat of dengue fever and dengue haemorrhagic fever to Egypt from travelers

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 thejropics and subtropics that favour viral transmission by the main mosquito vector, Aedes aegypti as the rapid population growth, rural-urban migration, inadequate basic urban infrastructure [eg. 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-tyres which easily accumulate rainwater. Increased air travel and the breakdown of vector control measures have also contributed greatly to the global burden of dengue and DH fevers. The presence of Ae. aegypti and endemicity of DF and DHF in the neighboring regional countries must be in mind of the Public Health Authorities