Source: Save the Children
A spike in dengue fever outbreaks across Asia is putting children at risk with the situation set to get worse in the coming weeks as floods, heatwaves and potential impacts of the El Niño weather event create perfect breeding grounds for mosquitos, Save the Children warned.
Dengue fever is contracted via the Aedes aegypti or yellow fever mosquito and can cause flu-like symptoms, including high fevers and severe headaches and body aches, and in extreme cases can cause organ failure and death.
Children are particularly vulnerable to the disease because their immune systems are weaker than adults and they tend to play outside where there’s less protection against the mosquitos.
Flooding, storms and rising sea levels can increase mosquito populations as it provides them with shallow, stagnant pools of water where they can reproduce.
The World Health Organisation has also warned that the impacts of the current El Niño climate pattern, which is predicted to trigger extreme weather events including droughts and flooding in Asia, will increase the spread of diseases like dengue.
Dr Yasir Arafat, Save the Children’s Senior Health and Nutrition Advisor for the Asia Region , said:
“Across Asia, extreme weather events are throwing the lives of children into disarray and this alarming surge in severe dengue outbreaks is just another issue impacting their physical and mental health. With climate change and the predicted impacts of the El Niño event threatening to trigger even more extreme weather across the region, the situation could get worse.
“Children’s lives can be saved if we take a comprehensive approach to tackling the threat. We need to train and equip healthcare workers to diagnose and treat dengue, scale up preventive measures to eradicate the mosquito breeding sites, and increase public information campaigns so children and their families understand how to protect themselves using screens, mosquito nets and repellent, and removing stagnant water around the home.
“We must see an increase in funding and resources towards solutions that better anticipate extreme weather and other shocks globally, and that put children’s rights at the heart of each response.”
Across Asia, Save the Children provides public healthcare for children and their families, including treatment for diseases like dengue and works with schools and communities to improve awareness on how to prevent infection. The agency also works in partnership with the World Mosquito Programme in some countries to help reduce the spread of dengue.
- As of 8 June 2023, an El Niño event has been declared and the projected impacts paint a worrying picture for children across the world. El Niño is a temporary and natural warming of parts of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, that can trigger extreme weather events globally − from fierce droughts, wildfires and heatwaves to deadly flooding and tropical storms.
- Although El Niño events are natural and cyclical, the impacts are being aggravated by the climate crisis. This El Niño is likely to trigger a new spike in global heating. Scientists predict that it is extremely likely one of the next five years will be the hottest year on record.
- Data referenced in this document is accurate as of 19 July 2023.
