Dengue

I grew up in Bangkok, where I saw first-hand the impact of cholera, dengue, malaria and other tropical diseases — and experienced the early waves of the seventh pandemic of cholera.

WASHINGTON — In this video interview, Karen M. Krueger, MD, assistant professor of infectious diseases at Northwestern Medicine, talks about the WHO’s Global Arbovirus Initiative, which launched earlier this year.

In retrospect, my path to infectious diseases began before I recognized it.

Disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic led to steep declines in cases of dengue in endemic regions, with more than 723,000 cases averted in 2020, researchers reported in Lancet Infectious Diseases.

This week, the FDA issues an EUA for tocilizumab in COVID-19; an electronic tool detects ovarian and pancreatic cancers; the delta variant accounts for 20% of new COVID-19 cases; and more.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to unanimously pass a recommendation on the use of an approved three-dose dengue vaccine for children aged 9 to 16 years who live in endemic areas, by a vote of 14-0.

The release of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes led to a 77% reduction in the incidence of symptomatic dengue in an Indonesian city, according to researchers, who said the same approach could be used to fight other mosquito-borne diseases.

Researchers have been exploring the use of genetically modified mosquitos as a potential control method for vector-borne diseases.

Prior Zika virus infection can significantly increase the risk for severe dengue, similar to a prior dengue infection, which may pose issues for vaccine development for both viruses, according to a study published in Science.

For this year’s World Mosquito Day, the CDC called attention to the “worrying” spread of Anopheles stephensi — an urban mosquito that spreads quickly in man-made habitats.