Dengue fever: How a mosquito infected millions, and not with malaria

Meera Senthilingam, for CNN

Updated 1436 GMT (2236 HKT) September 2, 2015

Dengue virus is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same type that can spread Zika virus. A bite from a mosquito harboring the virus can result in headaches, rashes and severe joint pains. In serious cases, it can cause internal bleeding and death.
Photos: Dengue fever: How a mosquito infected millions
Dengue virus is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same type that can spread Zika virus. A bite from a mosquito harboring the virus can result in headaches, rashes and severe joint pains. In serious cases, it can cause internal bleeding and death.
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There is no drug for dengue. Patients must be monitored carefully for the onset of the severe form of dengue. Pictured, a nurse looks after a patient with dengue at a hospital in Manila, Philippines.
Photos: Dengue fever: How a mosquito infected millions
There is no drug for dengue. Patients must be monitored carefully for the onset of the severe form of dengue. Pictured, a nurse looks after a patient with dengue at a hospital in Manila, Philippines.
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The main control measures for dengue to date have been to reduce the numbers of mosquitoes by large-scale spraying of insecticides. The chemicals have been deployed in both residential and public spaces in a mass culling of the insects spreading the disease.
Photos: Dengue fever: How a mosquito infected millions
The main control measures for dengue to date have been to reduce the numbers of mosquitoes by large-scale spraying of insecticides. The chemicals have been deployed in both residential and public spaces in a mass culling of the insects spreading the disease.
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Urbanization has aided the spread of dengue, with more than 100 countries now endemic for the disease. Pictured, containers, bottles and tires are perfect breeding sites for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmit the dengue virus. The versatile mosquitoes can lay eggs on any shallow surface of water.
Photos: Dengue fever: How a mosquito infected millions
Urbanization has aided the spread of dengue, with more than 100 countries now endemic for the disease. Pictured, containers, bottles and tires are perfect breeding sites for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that transmit the dengue virus. The versatile mosquitoes can lay eggs on any shallow surface of water.
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Public spraying of insecticides is based on seasonal changes, with more cases expected during rainy seasons in the tropics. But the measures haven't proven to curb the spread of disease adequately.
Photos: Dengue fever: How a mosquito infected millions
Public spraying of insecticides is based on seasonal changes, with more cases expected during rainy seasons in the tropics. But the measures haven't proven to curb the spread of disease adequately.
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Experts believe a vaccine is needed to truly control the disease. A dengue vaccine, called Dengvaxia, recently became available in Mexico, Brazil, the Philippines and El Salvador.
Photos: Dengue fever: How a mosquito infected millions
Experts believe a vaccine is needed to truly control the disease. A dengue vaccine, called Dengvaxia, recently became available in Mexico, Brazil, the Philippines and El Salvador.
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aedes aegyptiDengue treatmentDengue insecticide sprayingDengue containersDengue spraying public spacesanofy dengue vaccine

Story highlights

  • Dengue fever is now endemic in more than 100 countries
  • Globally, there are more than 50 million infections each year

Vital Signs is a monthly program bringing viewers health stories from around the world

(CNN)A bite from a single mosquito can result in fever, headaches, and pain. Severe cases can experience a multitude of symptoms including bleeding, shock, organ failure -- and potentially death.

There is no treatment or vaccine and no real means of protecting yourself in countries endemic for the disease.
    Though affected countries were once few, today more than 100 harbor the risk of infection -- putting more than half the world's population at risk and resulting in 50 million infections each year.
      Read: This man's blood saved 2 million babies
      The infection is Dengue -- formerly known as "break-bone fever" because of the severe joint points it causes -- and it's spread by one of nature's toughest, most versatile mosquitoes -- and it's not the one that spreads malaria.
      Read More