The dengue virus, although virtually unknown in the United States, is widespread in Latin America and Asia. It is also known as fracture fever. Transmitted by mosquitoes, the dengue virus causes skin rashes, headaches and muscle pain. The hemorrhagic form of the virus can often lead to the death of the patient. WHAT IS DENGUE? (& Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever) Dengue is a disease transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes. This potentially fatal disease is caused by a group of four viruses transmitted by mosquitoes. WHAT ARE THE FOUR DENGUE VIRUSES? Dengue and dengue fever are caused by one of four virus serotypes: DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, DEN. -4. The four viruses are closely related, but they are anitgenically distinct. Unfortunately, a person can have multiple dengue infections in their lifetime because they do not become immune to the other three viruses if they become infected. HOW IS DENGUE SPREAD? Dengue fever is transmitted by mosquitoes infected with the dengue virus. In the Western Hemisphere, Aedes aegypti is the only mosquito species that transmits the disease. When a mosquito bites a person with 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 are now hosts of the virus. The dengue virus is spread only by mosquitoes; it is not transmitted directly from one person to another. The Aedes aegypti is a diurnal mosquito that prefers to feed on humans. WHO catches DENGUE? Everyone is susceptible to illness if 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 ...... to rapid pulses of high voltage current, which temporarily render the plasma membrane permeable to macromolecules present in the medium. During the process of insertional mutagenesis, the plasmid vector contains another identifiable gene, with the coding sequence of that gene containing the restriction site for the insertion. Insertion of the foreign DNA at this site interrupts the reading frame of the gene and results in 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 its own image.” The emulsion is developed and the location of the radioactivity in the cell is visible by the presence of silver grains in the emulsion" (Purves, Orians and Heller, G4).