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Dengue in Asia and the Pacific (Update 2)

04 October 2017

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that dengue continues to be transmitted in Asia and the Pacific region.

Australia reported 773 laboratory-confirmed dengue cases from 1 January to of 26 September 2017.

Cambodia reported 2 299 suspected dengue cases from 1 January to 19 September 2017.

China reported 1 477 cases of dengue from 1 January to 31 August 2017.

French Polynesia reported 27 confirmed cases reported between 27 August and 9 September 2017.

Laos reported 8 550 cases of dengue (including 11 deaths) from 1 January to 15 September 2017. There have been 2 839 cases (including 2 deaths) in the capital Vientiane.

Malaysia reported 69 254 cases (including 156 deaths) from 1 January to 23 September 2017.

New Caledonia reported 4 499 cases from1 January to As of 17 September 2017,

Philippines reported 76 391 cases (including 413 deaths) from 1 January to 2 September 2017.

Singapore reported 2018 cases from 1 January to 16 September 2017.

Sri Lanka has reported15 6901 cases from 1 January to 3 October 2017.

Vietnam reported 124 986 cases (including 29 deaths) between 1 January and 13 September 2017. Of these cases, 28 158 were reported in Hanoi.

Advice for Travellers

Dengue is the second most common identified cause of febrile illness in returning travellers and the number of cases in travellers continues to increase. All travellers to endemic regions are potentially at risk of dengue fever and should be aware of this infection. Prevention relies on avoiding mosquito bites.

Aedes mosquitoes are particularly persistent and aggressive and bite between dawn and dusk.
Methods of bite avoidance include:

• Wearing long, loose, lightly coloured clothing to cover up the skin during the day.
• The use of insect repellent containing DEET applied to any exposed skin between dawn and dusk.
• When sunscreen and DEET are used together, DEET should be applied after sunscreen. The effectiveness of repellent reduces more rapidly than sunscreen, therefore, repellent may have to be reapplied on top of sunscreen.
• The use of permethrin, impregnated mosquito nets protects against early morning bites and should also be used when sleeping during the day.
• The use of air conditioning if available and/or mesh screening of windows and doors.
• Eradication of mosquito breeding sites around accommodation/home (e.g. open containers, old tyres or flower pots that may collect water).

Vaccine

There is no vaccine against dengue fever licensed in the UK.

At present the World Health Organisation (WHO) is trialling several candidate vaccines against dengue fever.

  • Dengvaxia®, developed by Sanofi Pasteur MSD, is the first vaccine to be licensed for the prevention of dengue.
    • It is a live, attenuated, recombinant, tetravalent vaccine approved for use in people 9–45 years of age living in highly endemic regions on a 3 dose schedule.
    • Prior dengue infection increases the efficacy of the vaccine; efficacy is reduced in populations with low previous exposure to dengue and may lead to increased rates of hospitalisation due to severe dengue.
    • Mexico, Costa Rica, the Phillippines and Brazil are the first countries to have granted marketing authorization for Dengvaxia®

For further information see Dengue Fever.