NewsDesk @bactiman63

In a follow-up on the dengue fever epidemic in the island country of Timor-Leste, or East Timor, the Ministry of Health reports 1,998 total cases through February 12.  This includes 1365 cases in January and 633 in February to date.

Image/CDC

A surge of dengue cases has been seen since December 2021.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that although dengue in Timor-Leste is not unexpected, the significant daily increase in the number of dengue cases and the rate of hospitalization in the current outbreak are unusual. The number of reported cases between 1 December 2021 to 31 January 2022 is substantially higher compared to the same periods in previous years since 2016.

901 total cases were reported in all of 2021, just to put the situation in perspective..

Sixty-four percent of the total cases  (1285) have been reported in the capital city of Dili.

30 dengue fatalities have been reported year to date, compared to 11 in all of 2021 and 10 in all of 2020.

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Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection that is caused by four DENV serotypes (DENV 1, DENV 2, DENV 3 and DENV 4). Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus are widely adapted vectors for urban and peri-urban environments. Infection with one serotype provides long-term immunity to the homologous serotype but not to the other serotypes. Sequential infections put people at greater risk for severe dengue.

There is no specific treatment for dengue. Early recognition of dengue virus infection and appropriate clinical management can reduce the severity of disease and mortality among dengue cases.