Field epidemiology of an outbreak of dengue fever in Charters Towers, Queensland: are insect screens protective?

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
S Murray-SmithC Skelly

Abstract

Between March and July 1993 a dengue virus epidemic swept through Charters Towers, a rural North Queensland mining community of 10,000. This clearly delineated outbreak provided an ideal opportunity to carry out one of the few field epidemiological studies of dengue in Australia. The epicurve was consistent with that of a point source outbreak, 18 weeks in duration and peaking at four weeks. A basic reproduction number for the dengue epidemic of 1.99 indicates a similar rate of spread to that found in dengue epidemics overseas. A female-to-male sex ratio of 1.7:1 was obtained for the 238 cases identified. An age- and sex-matched retrospective case-control study showed that cases were significantly more likely to live in unscreened houses than were controls (McNemar chi 2 = 56.1 df, P < 0.0001). Despite being generally accepted, an association between insect screens and a reduced incidence of mosquito-borne diseases has not previously been demonstrated in Australia. We speculate that unscreened housing facilitates the initial spread of a dengue epidemic.

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Citations

Sep 30, 2000·Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health·A LarsonD McGinn
May 23, 2008·Journal of Travel Medicine·Eduardo MassadLi Wei Ang
Jul 12, 2011·The Journal of Infectious Diseases·Jussi SaneJ Pekka Nuorti
Mar 18, 2016·PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases·Leigh R BowmanPhilip J McCall
Sep 6, 2018·The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene·Liz J WalkerMichael D A Lindsay
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May 17, 2011·PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases·Grace YapLee-Ching Ng
Feb 24, 2012·Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene·Anita ChakravartiChristine Luxemburger
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Jul 21, 2005·New Zealand Veterinary Journal·M M CookeD M Collins
Sep 30, 2021·Tropical Medicine & International Health : TM & IH·Pablo Manrique-SaideGonzalo M Vazquez-Prokopec

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