How Funny

I. INTRODUCTION

Dengue fever, also known as breakbone fever, is an acute febrile infectious disease caused by the dengue virus. The origins of the word "dengue" are not clear, but one theory is that it is derived from the Swahili phrase Ka-dinga pepo, which describes the disease as being caused by an evil spirit. The Swahili word dinga may possibly have its origin in the Spanish word dengue meaning fastidious or careful, which would describe the gait of a person suffering the bone pain of dengue fever. Alternatively, the use of the Spanish word may derive from the similar-sounding Swahili. Slaves in the West Indies who contracted dengue were said to have the posture and gait of a dandy, and the disease was known as "dandy fever".

The term "break-bone fever" was first applied by physician and Founding Father Benjamin Rush, in a 1789 report of the 1780 epidemic in Philadelphia. In the report he uses primarily the more formal term "bilious remitting fever". The term dengue fever only came into general use after 1828. Other historical terms include "breakheart fever" and "la dengue". Terms for severe disease include: "infectious thrombocytopenic purpura" and "Philippine", "Thai", or "Singapore hemorrhagic fever".

Dengue fever is found mostly during and shortly after the rainy season in tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, Southeast Asia and China, India, Middle East, Caribbean and Central and South America, Australia and the South and Central Pacific. With the increasing number of cases, dengue is crating high concern all over south East Asia and Philippines is the worst affected nation. This is a deadly disease which is claiming a lot of lives also. It has claimed around 1000 lives in Philippines during last two years.

Currently vector control is the available method for the dengue and DHF prevention and control but research on dengue vaccines for public health use is in process. The global strategy for dengue /DHF prevention and...