September 21, 1995
Web posted at: 2:50 p.m. EDT (1850 GMT)
From Correspondent Tony Clark
HARLINGEN, Texas (CNN) -- Health care volunteers are traveling from door to door in south Texas, just a few miles from the Mexican border, to tell people about "the sickness that the mosquitoes can bring."
That sickness is dengue (DENG-gee or ding-GAY). It's transmitted by mosquitoes, and makes life miserable for the afflicted. "You hurt all over," said Dr. Duane Gubler of the Centers for Disease Control. "You have severe headache; you have high fever; you become dehydrated."
The symptoms can last up to two weeks, and with no vaccine available, dengue sufferers can only turn to bed rest, plenty of fluids and non-aspirin pain killers. "They'll be very miserable," said Dr. Leonel Vela of the Texas Department of Health. In fact, he said, "Some people can experience bouts of depression during the illness because of (its) severity."
The dengue virus comes in four strains, one potentially fatal. In its most serious incarnation, Vela said, "you actually can have leakage from the blood vessels and there can actually be hemorrhage and eventually ... shock and death."
Dengue first appeared mainly in Southeast Asia, but over the past decade it's been spreading around the world. So far this year, more than 32,000 people in Central America alone have been infected. In Reynosa, Mexico, near the U.S. border, there have been 90 confirmed cases of dengue in recent weeks and more than 600 cases of dengue-like illnesses.
Health officials along the U.S.-Mexican line have swarmed into action, collecting mosquito larvae samples, setting out traps and spraying mosquito breeding areas. (1,089K QuickTime movie) Their biggest effort, however, involves getting people to clean up around their homes.
"Mosquito control depends upon the people who create the problem in the first place," said Gubler. "That is, by having trash in their back yard that allows this mosquito to breed." Even a small discarded can containing a little rain water can serve as a conjugal bed for dengue-carrying mosquitoes. Health officials say the best way to prevent spread of the virus is to spray breeding grounds for mosquitoes that might carry it.
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