Dengue: A Continuing Global Threat

Abstract

Dengue is a significant mosquito-borne infection. An arbovirus named dengue virus is the causative agent. Due to the nature of the mosquito-borne infection, dengue has become a significant public health threat in many developing tropical countries. Dengue had been present throughout tropical regions of the world for more than 50 years. Of several tropical regions, Southeast Asia is accepted as the area with the highest prevalence of this disease. A severe hemorrhagic form of dengue infection has become a leading infectious cause of death for local people in Southeast Asia. Francisco Pinheiro, a former researcher from the Division of Disease Prevention and Control, and the Special Program for Vaccines and Immunization, Pan American Health Organization (DC, USA), said that the highest incidence of dengue could be seen in Southeast Asia, particularly in Vietnam and Thailand, which together account for more than two-thirds of the overall reported cases in Asia. Hence, several groups are now carrying out research and development on dengue infection in this area. At present, due to the efficient mosquito-borne method by which the virus is transported, dengue is not confined within the tropical region, but is sporadically reported from many nontropical countries. It is accepted that it is now a global issue. In South Asia, there have been many reports of dengue epidemiology coming in from India.