The dengue virus, although virtually unknown in the United States, is widespread in Latin America and Asia. It is also known as broken bone fever. Transmitted by mosquitoes, the dengue virus causes skin rashes, headaches and muscle pain. The hemorrhagic form of the virus can often cause the death of the patient. WHAT IS DENGUE FEVER? (& Dengue hemorrhagic fever) Dengue is a disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. The potentially fatal disease is caused by a group of four viruses that originate from mosquitoes. WHAT ARE THE FOUR DENGUE VIRUSES? Dengue and dengue fever are caused by one of four viral serotypes: DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, DEN -4. The four viruses are closely related, yet are anitgenically distinct. Unfortunately, a person can get several dengue infections in their lifetime because, if infected, they do not become immune to the other three viruses. HOW DOES DENGUE FEVER SPREAD? Dengue fever is transmitted by mosquitoes that have been infected with the dengue virus. In the Western Hemisphere, Aedes a Egypti is the only mosquito species that transmits the disease. When a mosquito bites a person suffering from dengue or dengue fever, the insect becomes infected and acts as a carrier of the virus. The disease spreads when mosquito carriers bite healthy individuals who now harbor the virus. The Dengue virus spreads only through mosquitoes; it is not transmitted directly from person to person. Aedes a Egypti is a mosquito that bites during the day and prefers to feed on humans. WHO GETS DENGUE FEVER? Everyone is susceptible to the disease when exposed to infected mosquitoes. Dengue fever is a current epidemic in more than 100 subtropical countries where mosquito populations are high. These tropical regions include...... middle of paper ...... rapid pulses of high-voltage current, which temporarily make the plasma membrane permeable to macromolecules present in the medium. During the process of insertional mutagenesis, the plasmid vector contains another identifiable gene, the coding sequence of which contains the restriction site for the insertion. Insertion of foreign DNA into this site interrupts the reading phase of the gene and causes insertional mutagenesis. A probe is used to detect the desired DNA during audioradiography. Audioradiography is “the detection of a radioactive substance in a cell or organism by bringing it into contact with a photographic emulsion and allowing the material to “take a picture of itself.” The emulsion is developed and the location of the radioactivity in the cell is determined by the presence of silver grains in the emulsion" (Purves, Orians and Heller, G4).