Climate change could expose 1 billion more people to bug-borne diseases, study says
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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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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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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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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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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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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