Dengue fever outbreaks

This item appears on page 16 of the November 2015 issue.

The city of New Delhi, INDIA, is suffering from its worst outbreak of dengue fever in five years. As of press time, more than 3,800 cases had been confirmed in 2015 and 17 people had died.

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne virus, and symptoms include fever, headaches, joint pain and rash. Rarely, the possibly lethal dengue hemorrhagic fever may occur, additionally causing abdominal pain, vomiting and internal bleeding.

Officials have blamed poor drainage of standing water for the outbreak and warn that dengue cases typically peak in October, after the monsoon season.

GUATEMALA also issued a countrywide dengue fever warning after an outbreak in September.