The number of confirmed dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) cases in Mexico are up more than 18 percent this year to date compared to the same period in 2015, according to the Mexico Health Ministry.

Aedes aegypti/CDC
Aedes aegypti/CDC

As of Apr. 18, the number of confirmed dengue fever cases stand at 2229, up 12.6 percent from last year and the number of confirmed DHF cases are up more than 38 percent–794 cases in 2016 year to date compared with 575 in 2015.

In total, when comparing cases with what happened on the same date 2015 (2554), an increase of 18.4% of confirmed cases is observed (3023). One dengue related fatality has been reported so far.

Nearly six out of 10 of the confirmed cases were reported from five states– Guerrero, Chiapas, Veracruz, Tabasco and Nuevo Leon.

Guerrero and Oaxaca states have reported all four dengue types circulating.

The World Health Organization says dengue is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito infected with one of the four dengue virus serotypes. It is a febrile illness that affects infants, young children and adults with symptoms appearing 3-14 days after the infective bite.

Dengue is not transmitted directly from person-to-person and symptoms range from mild fever, to incapacitating high fever, with severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, and rash. There is no vaccine or any specific medicine to treat dengue. People who have dengue fever should rest, drink plenty of fluids and reduce the fever using paracetamol or see a doctor.

Severe dengue (also known as dengue hemorrhagic fever) is characterized by fever, abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, bleeding and breathing difficulty and is a potentially lethal complication, affecting mainly children. Early clinical diagnosis and careful clinical management by trained physicians and nurses increase survival of patients.

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