Dr. Elliot Casey, Medical Director of St. Benedict’s Clinic in Honduras reported this morning that the epidemic of dengue is ongoing and the government has elevated the level of concern to the highest level or emergency. He thinks that there have been 22,000 cases with 26 deaths. The public and private hospitals are overwhelmed. The outbreak is stressing the limited resources of the government and the hospitals. The clinic is trying to pick up some of the slack and help by working longer and weekends. Because they were prepared and have medicines that many of the other clinics don’t have they are worried about their ability to meet all of their anticipated needs.

Dengue (or “breakbone”) fever, is a disease that is characterized by high fever, rash, and severe headache with aching bones, joints, and muscles. Dengue and its deadly complications, dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome, have increased over the past several decades. Global warming has substantially increased the number of people at risk of dengue epidemics, as warmer temperatures and changing rainfall conditions expand both the area suitable for mosquitoes and the length of the dengue transmission season in temperate areas.

Currently, dengue fever and its complications cause an estimated 50 to 100 million infections, a half-million hospitalizations, and 22,000 deaths annually in more than 100 countries, including parts of South America, Central America, the Caribbean, India, Southeast Asia, and Africa. By 2085, an estimated 5.2 billion people—3 billion additional people worldwide—are projected to be at risk for dengue because of climate change–induced increases in humidity that contribute to increased mosquito presence.

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