Key facts
- Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection.
- The infection causes flu-like illness, and occasionally develops into a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue.
- The global incidence of dengue has grown dramatically in recent decades.
- About half of the world’s population is now at risk.
- Dengue is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas.
- Severe dengue is a leading cause of serious illness and death among children in some Asian and Latin American countries.
- There is no specific treatment for dengue/ severe dengue, but early detection and access to proper medical care lowers fatality rates below 1%.
- Dengue prevention and control solely depends on effective vector control measures.
- Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that has rapidly spread in all regions of WHO in recent years. Dengue virus is transmitted by female mosquitoes mainly of the species Aedes aegypti and, to a lesser extent, A. albopictus. The disease is widespread throughout the tropics, with local variations in risk influenced by rainfall, temperature and unplanned rapid urbanization.
- Severe dengue (also known as Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever) was first recognized in the 1950s during dengue epidemics in the Philippines and Thailand. Today, severe dengue affects most Asian and Latin American countries and has become a leading cause of hospitalization and death among children in these regions.
- There are 4 distinct, but closely related, serotypes of the virus that cause dengue (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4). Recovery from infection by one provides lifelong immunity against that particular serotype. However, cross-immunity to the other serotypes after recovery is only partial and temporary. Subsequent infections by other serotypes increase the risk of developing severe dengue
Superintendent, ICH.