Dengue fever is an emerging disease caused by a mosquito-borne virus and is a leading public health concern globally in tropical and subtropical regions. Commonly known as “breakbone fever” for the intense muscle and joint pain it causes, dengue runs the gamut from mild illness to potentially fatal complications. This article summarizes the relevant details of the dengue, its transmission, symptoms, prevention measures, and treatments.
What is Dengue Fever?
Dengue fever is caused by the dengue virus (DENV), a member of the Flavivirus family. Four different serotypes of the virus are known, namely DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3, and DENV-4. Infection with one serotype confers lifelong immunity to that type, but not to others. That means an individual can become infected as many as four times in their lifetime.
Dengue is mainly transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which is most active in the early morning and before dusk. Another mosquito species, Aedes albopictus, can also spread the virus but does so less efficiently.
Global Burden of Dengue
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are an estimated 390 million dengue infections annually, leading to clinical manifestations in approximately 96 million patients. Dengue is endemic in over 100 countries in Asia, the Pacific, the Americas, Africa, and the Caribbean.
Dengue has spread dramatically in recent decades, with cases rising because of urbanization, travel, inadequate sanitation , and climate change, which create optimal conditions for breeding mosquitoes.
How is Dengue Transmitted?
Dengue is not transmitted from one person to another. So document.addEventListener('DOMContentLiteSpeedLoaded',function(){var commentForms=document.getElementsByClassName('jetpack_remote_comment');for(var i=0;i
