Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Saudi Public Health Authority (Weqaya) intends to launch an extensive survey project to study the epidemiological situation of dengue fever across the Kingdom. The timeline for the project has been set at 12 months.

The authority seeks to implement a long-term, extensive survey program to study the epidemiological situation of dengue fever across all regions of the Kingdom. Dengue or break-bone fever is a viral infection that spreads from mosquitoes to people.

According to the Ministry of Health, dengue fever is "a viral infection transmitted by mosquito bites, most commonly found in tropical and subtropical regions. It spreads rapidly, especially in poor urban areas, suburbs, and rural areas."

Dengue is frequently asymptomatic; if symptoms appear, they typically begin 3 to 14 days after infection. These may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains and a characteristic skin itching and skin rash.

Dengue fever is transmitted from person to person through the bite of the Aedes aegypti mosquito. A healthy mosquito acquires the virus when it feeds on the blood of an infected person, and when it moves on to feed on the blood of a healthy person, it transmits the virus to the infected person. An infected person can transmit the disease to others via mosquitoes for 4-5 days or 7 days from the time of the outbreak of the infection.