Until 20 August 2018, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) has reported 16 local cases of dengue fever in August, which exceeds the number of cases in August 2017, leading to public concern about the outbreak of dengue fever in Hong Kong.
Dengue fever is a disease caused by the dengue viruses and are transmitted through vectors, such as Aedes mosquitoes, which are mosquitoes with white markings on their legs. Aedes mosquitoes can usually be found in tropical and sub-tropical areas such as the Southeast Asia, but dengue viruses have become widespread in the world due to globalization and increasing cooperation between countries. There are various factors affecting the breeding of Aedes mosquitoes and the spread of dengue fever, and climate change is always to be blamed since global warming causes world’ temperature to rise. It is believed that the higher the temperature, the faster the mosquitoes can reproduce, thus having more vectors to spread the dengue viruses.
However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the USA, climate change and rise in temperature may not play a major role in spreading dengue viruses, and there are other important factors which are urbanization and human behaviors. Under the rapid modernization across the globe, the population and living environment are becoming denser, and this allows the Aedes mosquitoes to have reproduction easily as their main habitats are located in urban and semi-urban areas, thus leading to easy transmission of viruses in various cities. Human behaviors may also lead to the spread of dengue fever since we may have provided a perfect breeding and living environment for the mosquitos by accumulating and leaving stagnant water or rubbish without noticing.
Apart from the factors causing dengue fever, prevention is also important. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department has adopted measures in order to curb the breeding and spread of Aedes mosquitoes in Hong Kong, which includes spraying fog insecticide and using mosquito zappers in public areas, while Hong Kong citizens should also be aware of their household behaviors so as to contribute to the prevention of dengue fever in Hong Kong.
