Healthcare providers can diminish the impact of Dengue virus if they are able to forecast the epidemic before it spreads, according to Infection Control Today.
Here are nine things to know about the virus:
1. Dengue virus, spread among humans by mosquitoes, affects approximately 390 million people each year with recent outbreaks occurring in Florida, Texas, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
2. Federal agencies are joining forces with scientist to devise infectious disease forecasting model with the hopes of predicting future dengue epidemics.
3. The Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services are granting access to those interested in helping historical dengue surveillance data from Puerto Rico and Peru.
4. The data was not made available until recently will provide researchers with the tools necessary to develop infectious disease forecasting models.
5. Navy Commander Jean-Paul Chretien, team leader of Innovation and Evaluation for the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center's Integrated Biosurvelliance division, states that devising epidemic provides models required a lengthy and detailed epidemiological record.
6. The project will have four months to develop and test the model before final submissions are due on Sep. 2, 2015.
7. Those who qualify for the next phase of development will be invited to meet at the White House in the fall with representatives of the National Science and Technology Working Group.
8. This project is crucial because of the dangers dengue virus infection poses for those affected. Symptoms include:
• High fever
• Severe headache
• Eye pain
• Joint, muscle and bone pain
• Mild bleeding
• Low white cell blood count
9. Severe cases of the dengue virus require hospitalization. Researchers advise people to take precautionary measures such as avoiding mosquito-infested areas.
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