Dual mosquito transmitted infections number rise in India

Greetings

Dengue is a topic that I have written a couple of times. More recently, Dengue and Chikungunya have been reported to have increased in number in India. There are lots of media reports on increasing number of cases and deaths. Delhi was on news almost more than a month ago reporting as one of the worst affected places. WHO estimate stands at about 390 million cases of dengue fever globally of which approx 96 million require strong medical attention. It had been earlier predicted that change in monsoon pattern would cause a 25% increase in incidence in 2016 vs 2015.

Fig 1: Dengue Case statistics, 2016.

There is a definitive increase in the number of cases in the past few months. I have gathered some data (See Fig 1). The total number of cases confirmed in India is more than 45000. As of October 1st, 2016 Lucknow has reported 1800 cases with 148 deaths.

Chikungunya is another mosquito-borne viral disease, that has been shown to be in increasing number in past few months. According to statistics from the Union Health Ministry, (Reported on Sept 17, 2016) a very large number of cases is reported from Karnataka. As of on Sept 21, 2016 Delhi has reported 2625 cases. In summary, both Dengue and Chikungunya cases have been reported in good numbers and some media makes it a reference as "Twin Mosquito-transmitted infections". 

There is virtually no targetted treatment for both Dengue and Chikungunya. Dengue recently has got a vaccine- Dengvaxia. Dengvaxia is a product of Sanofi Pasteur with trials showing about 59.2% efficacy. It is not sure if Dengue vaccine is the right answer at this point of time, modelling studies are not in good favour. Chikungunya is no better and there is not yet a single approved vaccine. The best method is to avoid mosquito bites and destroy breeding sites.

References

1. Hadinegoro S, Arredondo-García J, Capeding M, Deseda C, Chotpitayasunondh T, Dietze R et al. Efficacy and Long-Term Safety of a Dengue Vaccine in Regions of Endemic Disease. New England Journal of Medicine. 2015;373(13):1195-1206.

2. Ferguson N, Rodriguez-Barraquer I, Dorigatti I, Mier-y-Teran-Romero L, Laydon D, Cummings D. Benefits and risks of the Sanofi-Pasteur dengue vaccine: Modeling optimal deployment. Science. 2016;353(6303):1033-1036.