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From the Editor’s Desk
Over the decades dengue/dengue haemorrhagic fever has emerged as a global
public health problem with countries in Asia and the Pacific sharing more than 70 % of
the disease burden. In some of these countries, DHF is gaining
hyper-endemicity causing deaths among children. During 2004, Indonesia reported a major dengue outbreak
encompassing Central
Java, Sumatra and some outer islands. Till the end of
July 2004, 69,017 cases of DF/DHF and 770 deaths were registered by
Indonesian health authorities. During this epidemic DEN-3 was the predominant
serotype.
Sri Lanka also reported a major outbreak with 12,400
cases and 71 deaths as of 23 August 2004. A majority of the cases were reported
from five cities: Colombo, Kandy, Gampaha, Kalutara and Kurunegala.
In the South-East Asia Region, Bhutan and Nepal continued to enjoy dengue-free status till
2003 because of their sub-mountainous location. However, during August 2004, Bhutan recorded the first-ever outbreak of DF/DHF
in Phuntsholing (population 27,000), a border town with India. During this outbreak a total of 2,544
DF/DHF cases with no deaths were reported. More than 93 % of those affected
were persons above 5 years of age. This sent a strong signal to the adjoining
DF-free north-eastern part of India and Nepal to take appropriate preventive action.
DengueNet, the WHO Global Surveillance System for management of
epidemiological and virological surveillance data for early detection,
planning and response, was launched in the South-East Asia and Western Pacific countries during 2004.
Each country identified institutions which would participate in the
programme.
The current Volume 28 (2004) of the Dengue Bulletin includes contributions
from the South-East Asia Region (13), the Western Pacific Region (7), the
American Region (5) and the European Region (4).
A supplement, featuring experiences from different countries in social
mobilization and communication for dengue prevention and control, is also
being issued along with this volume.
We now invite contributions for Volume 29 (2005). The deadline for the
receipt of contributions is 30 June 2005. Contributors are requested to follow the
instructions carefully while preparing the manuscript. Contributions
accompanied by computer diskettes using MS Word for Windows should be sent to
the Editor, Dengue Bulletin, WHO/SEARO, Mahatma Gandhi Road, IP Estate, Ring
Road, New Delhi-110 002, India, or by e-mail as a file attachment to the
Editor at dengue@whosea.org. Readers desirous of obtaining copies of the
Dengue Bulletin may contact the respective WHO Regional Offices in New Delhi or Manila or the WHO Country Representative in their
country of residence.
Dr Chusak Prasittisuk
Regional Adviser
Vector-borne Disease Control
World Health Organization
Regional Office for South-East Asia
New Delhi, India
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