[아이뉴스24 이정민 기자] The novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) pandemic (global spread) has led to a sharp drop in dengue fever, a deadly tropical epidemic. This is a derivative effect of countries around the world implementing strong quarantine policies to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Dengue fever is a tropical infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes, and it mainly occurs in tropical areas such as South and Southeast Asia. More than 5 million people are infected with dengue fever every year, which is accompanied by severe joint and muscle pain.
The New York Times reported on the 16th that the medical journal ‘The Lancet’ recently published a paper by a research team at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine containing the results of this study.
The research team announced that the number of dengue cases has decreased by regarding 720,000 in the past year as governments around the world have taken various quarantine measures, including movement restrictions, since April 2020. Professor Oliver Brady of this research team said, “The COVID-19 quarantine measures have had a really unexpected effect.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns were high. As quarantine activities, such as spraying mosquito repellents to prevent the spread of dengue fever, have been suspended to focus on the treatment and quarantine of COVID-19, concerns have been raised that dengue fever may spread indiscriminately.
However, in this paper, the research team diagnosed that the main reason for the decrease in dengue fever was that the government restricted the movement of people to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In particular, it is analyzed that the closure of schools and workplaces had a major impact.
“We have confirmed that mosquito bites in places such as schools and workplaces play a large part in the transmission of dengue fever,” the research team explained.
“Dengue fever has decreased as people stay at home because of self-isolation (due to COVID-19),” he said. .
/ Reporter Lee Jung-min([email protected])
