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Dengue Fever Increased by Rapid Urbanization

Posted by: Nate Berg

3 September 2009 - 5:00am

Rapid urbanization and dense cities with inadequate infrastructure are being cited as leading causes in the spread of dengue fever throughout Southeast Asia and the rest of the world.

Nearly half of the world's population is at risk according to health experts. The dense urbanized areas of Southeast Asia are breeding grounds for the disease, which can then easily spread.

"'As early the 1980s, dengue fever had reached epidemic proportions in some countries in Asia long before climate change became an issue. Rapid urbanization, increase in air travel and lack of mosquito control are the main drivers of the disease.'

Duane Gubler, director of Asia Pacific Institute of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the University of Hawaii, said dengue spreads quickly in crowded cities with inadequate basic services, such as potable water, sanitation and waste-management and weak public health infrastructures."

Full Story: Urban sprawl, bad sanitation spread dengue fever
Source: Reuters, September 1, 2009
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