The Burkina Faso Ministry of Health declared a dengue fever outbreak on Sep. 28 after seeing a dramatic increase in the incidence of the mosquito borne viral disease in the country, especially around the districts of Ouagadougou, the capital city since early August.

Aedes albopictus/FotoshopTofs
Aedes albopictus/FotoshopTofs

Between the beginning of the year and Oct 8, a cumulative total of 2,298 (suspected, probable and confirmed) cases and nine deaths (case fatality rate 0.4%) were reported across the country.

Eight out of 10 strains characterized turned out to be DENV-2 while the remaining strains were DENV-3 and DENV-1.

The World Health Organization says the weekly case incidence has been on the rise since the detection of the outbreak in week 31 (August 6), and is likely underestimated due to under-reporting from private clinics and health centres in peripheral zones.

Burkina Faso experienced an outbreak of dengue in 2016, which was caused by DENV-2. In the current outbreak, three serotypes were identified: DENV-1, DENV-2 and DENV-3. This could lead to the occurrence of more severe cases.

Dengue is a viral infection transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. There are four closely related but antigenically different serotypes of the virus that can cause dengue (DEN1, DEN 2, DEN 3, DEN 4).

  • Dengue Fever (DF) – marked by an onset of sudden high fever, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, and pain in muscles and joints. Some may also have a rash and varying degree of bleeding from various parts of the body (including nose, mouth and gums or skin bruising).Dengue has a wide spectrum of infection outcome (asymptomatic to symptomatic). Symptomatic illness can vary from dengue fever (DF) to the more serious dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF).
  • Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) – is a more severe form, seen only in a small proportion of those infected. DHF is a stereotypic illness characterized by 3 phases; febrile phase with high continuous fever usually lasting for less than 7 days; critical phase (plasma leaking) lasting 1-2 days usually apparent when fever comes down, leading to shock if not detected and treated early; convalescence phase lasting 2-5 days with improvement of appetite, bradycardia (slow heart rate), convalescent rash (white patches in red background), often accompanied by generalized itching (more intense in palms and soles), and diuresis (increase urine output).
  • Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS) — Shock syndrome is a dangerous complication of dengue infection and is associated with high mortality. Severe dengue occurs as a result of secondary infection with a different virus serotype. Increased vascular permeability, together with myocardial dysfunction and dehydration, contribute to the development of shock, with resultant multiorgan failure.

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