Why Is Dengue Spreading?

Did you know Dengue has spread from nine countries to over one hundred countries over the past 50 years? This makes Dengue the most rapidly-spreading vector-borne disease in the world! With this 30 fold increase globally, almost half the world’s population is now living in Dengue-endemic countries such as Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Brazil, Cuba, India and other highly populated countries.

The disease’s burden has increased from 15,000 cases per year in the 1960s to 390 million, which is incidentally more than half the population of Europe!

Once viewed as an urban and peri-urban disease by Medical experts, Dengue is increasingly becoming a challenge to deal with in rural locations as well.

Despite the ever increasing impact of Dengue globally, world-wide media attention has been almost non-existent.

So, why is Dengue spreading?

1. Population Growth

The growing population numbers and high concentration in certain areas is an ever growing concern. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 7 billion in 2012, putting extreme pressure on natural resources and creating a space crunch in many urban areas. The fact is, mosquitoes love crowds and unplanned urbanization.

2. Unplanned Urbanization

Unplanned urbanization may sound like a very fancy word but put simply it’s a burden which cities do not need, hampering both prosperity and public health. Today 50 % of the world population lives in urban centers — by 2030 this is expected to increase to a whopping 60%. Wherever there is unplanned urbanization, there is a certain lack of sanitation.

3. Lack of Sanitation

It’s no secret that the lack of sanitation holds back a country’s progress and overall health. 1 in 3 people, or 2.4 billion, are still without sanitation facilities — including 946 million people who defecate in the open world-wide! This is nothing new, but governments don’t realise the long term effect: over population — unplanned urbanization — unhygienic sanitation — stagnant water — Dengue from ineffective mosquito control!!

4. Ineffective Mosquito Control

So how does one go about effectively controlling mosquitoes? Firstly, one should get themselves insured and take adequate precaution. The rest is up to the authorities. Are you listening?