336 confirmed cases, these are the recent figures announced by the health authorities on Dengue disease in Mali last week. In fact, the 1er case of the disease was recorded on September 9. The alert is therefore launched to protect ourselves, because this disease is becoming a public health problem.
Dengue fever, also called “tropical flu”, is a viral disease transmitted to humans by mosquitoes of the Aedes genus (aegypti and albopictus) during a blood meal. It is caused by an arbovirus (virus transmitted by arthropods), belonging to the Flaviviridae family, of the flavivirus genus, such as the West Nile virus and yellow fever. Dengue virus strains are divided into four distinct serotypes: DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4. Thus, dengue infection occurs mainly in tropical and intertropical zones. And the WHO estimates the number of annual cases at 50 million, including 500,000 cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever which are fatal in more than 2.5% of cases.
How does it manifest?
”Classic” Dengue manifests suddenly after 2 to 7 days of incubation with the appearance of high fever often accompanied by headache, nausea, vomiting, joint and muscle pain, skin rash resembling that of measles, retro-orbital pain and swelling of the lymph nodes. After 3 to 4 days, a brief remission is observed, then the symptoms intensify, hemorrhages may occur, before regressing quickly after a week.
--Very alarming number of cases in Mali
Last week, according to health authorities, Mali recorded 336 cases with 2 deaths and more than 2,400 suspected cases. Figures which prove that this pathology is becoming a real public health problem. In addition to Bamako, certain regions are affected by Dengue disease, such as Sikasso, Ségou, Koulikoro and Mopti. Still from official sources, the disease has so far no specific treatment, which will mean that each case is taken as a particular case. They (Health Authorities) subsequently invited the population to clean up their environment to quickly eradicate this disease.
Furthermore, in addition to Mali, Dengue is wreaking havoc in the sub-region, namely Burkina Faso, Senegal and Ivory Coast.
By Mariam Sissoko
