Challenges to prevent dengue among German travelers to endemic areas

Abstract

Nine-year long surveillance for dengue virus infection among Germans returning from a travel to dengue endemic areas by Teichman et al identified at least seventy-one patients with different manifestations of dengue. Their recommendation about a pre travel advice on different aspects of dengue is very appropriate. Nevertheless prospective briefings of travelers against dengue virus infections would be comprehensive only through their appreciation of the fundamental properties of the vector the Aedes aegypti. A. aegypti popularly known as the “yellow fever mosquito” has been responsible for the global endemicity and epidemics of yellow fever virus as well as dengue fever virus. A. aegypti is an early morning or late afternoon feeder but would also bite at night under artificial illumination. Human blood is preferred over other animals and ankles as the favorite bite area. A. aegypti can resist desiccation for up to 1 year; eggs hatch when flooded by deoxygenated water. Larval habitats are artificial containers; larvae feed on the aquatic life that develops in artificial containers. Larvae die at temperatures below 10°C. A. aegypti flies only a few hundred yards from its breeding sites. Unfortunately such fundamental about the so-called “yellow fever” mosquito have not been addressed all the seriously by the practitioners of medicine and public health personnel. (excerpt)