HAVANA, Cuba, CMC – Scientists in Cuba said that they have made strides towards developing a vaccine to fight the mosquito-borne Dengue Fever.
In making the announcement, the president of the BioCubaFarma Biotech Conglomerate, Eduardo Martinez, said a diagnostic system is also being developed to detect the disease as the first symptoms appear.
Cuban scientists have worked over the past 10 years to find a vaccine against Dengue and decided to develop one that induces a cellular response against the virus, which they expect to have soon.
Martinez also announced that Cuba already counts on a new fast diagnostic system that will help health protocols by detecting the disease as soon as the patient feels the first relevant symptoms and even if there is a re-infection.
He said this will allow different treatments for patients to avoid the development of the disease and death.
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne illness that occurs in tropical and subtropical areas of the world.
Mild dengue fever causes a high fever and flu-like symptoms, but the severe form of dengue fever, also called dengue hemorrhagic fever, can cause serious bleeding and death.
Millions of cases of dengue infection occur worldwide each year. Dengue fever is most common in Southeast Asia, the western Pacific islands, Latin America and Africa. But the disease has been spreading to new areas, including local outbreaks in Europe and southern parts of the United States.
OTHERS:
In Prayagraj district 6 new cases of dengue were detected.
In Pakistan, 350 new cases of dengue fever were reported, by health authorities.
The death of 44 people, mostly children, has sent shock waves across Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad area. The fatalities are suspected to be a result of a dengue outbreak, prompting the Yogi Adityanath government to set up an inquiry. Notably, the deaths have occurred within a span of 12 days.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS – on Sep 01, 2021
- Firozabad BJP MLA said dengue death increased to 44
- A team from King George’s Medical University in Lucknow will probe the deaths
- DM has ordered the closure of all schools for classes 1 to 8 till September 6
Source: www.jamaicaobserver.com, www.timesnownews.com