Dengue Fever

Dengue Fever Dengue fever is a flu-like viral disease common throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world, mainly in urban and peri-urban areas. Today, it afflicts an estimated 50 million to 100 million in the tropics (Epstein, 2000). The virus has four antigenically related serotypes, which are named DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4. Each dengue serotype is a variation of the flavivrus genus. Dengue is spread by the aedes aegypti, a domestic, day-biting mosquito that prefers …

…helpful now, but are ineffective in the long term. What is needed is a vaccine providing immunity to all four serotypes of dengue fever. If combinations of these preventative measures are not instituted soon enough, dengue fever will continue to expand, especially with increased global warming. Without a vaccine to eliminate this emerging infectious disease, dengue fever has the potential to become a major threat to human health that must be prevented at all costs.