DENGUE FEVER VACCINE

DENGUE FEVER

Due to its painful symptoms, DENGUE FEVER, sometimes known as breakbone fever, is a viral illness spread by mosquitoes. In tropical and subtropical areas, it poses a serious hazard to public health that annually affects millions of people. The virus that causes dengue, which mainly affects Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus-type female mosquitoes-transmits itself to people through bites.

OVERVIEW OF THE SITUATION:

With nearly three million suspected and confirmed cases of dengue reported so far this year, exceeding the 2.8 million cases of dengue registered for the entire year of 2022, dengue outbreaks of notable magnitude have been documented in the WHO Region of the Americas since the beginning of 2023. Dengue cases reported up until July 1, 2023, totaled 2 997 097; 45% were laboratory confirmed, and 0.13% were deemed to be severe cases. Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia have had the most number of dengue cases so far in 2023. In the same time frame, 1302 deaths with a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 0.04% were also reported in the Region.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is actively collaborating with the Member States to improve healthcare and surveillance capacity as part of the execution of its Integrated Management Plan for the Prevention, Control, and Management of Arboviral Diseases (IMS-Arbovirus).

Due to the widespread distribution of Aedes spp. mosquitoes (especially Aedes aegypti), an increasing risk of major illness and death, and the expansion outside of historically active areas of transmission, where all members of the population, including at-risk groups and healthcare professionals, might not be conscious of warning signs, the World Health Organization has rated the risk of dengue as high at the regional level.

Based on the information currently available, WHO does not advise any trade or travel restrictions for countries in the Americas experiencing the current dengue epidemics.

Situational description

The most common arbovirus in the Regions of the Americas is dengue, which has periodic outbreaks every three to five years. South America experienced significant dengue epidemics throughout the first half of 2023. A total of 2 997 097 cases of dengue were recorded in the Region of the Americas from the epidemiological week (EW) 1 and EW 26 of 2023 (week ending on July 1st), including 1302 deaths with a CFR of 0.04% and a cumulative incidence rate of 305 cases per 100 000 people. 1 348 234 (45%) of all dengue cases up through EW 26 of 2023 had laboratory confirmation, and 3907 (0.13%) of those were considered to be severe cases.

Brazil had the most dengue cases (2 376 522); it was followed by Peru (188 326) and Bolivia (133 779) in terms of total cases.

The Southern Cone, with 862 cases per 100,000 people, the Andean Subregion, with 268 cases per 100,000 people, and the Central American Isthmus and Mexico, with 59 cases per 100,000 people, had the greatest cumulative incidence rates.

Brazil had the most severe dengue cases, with 1249 cases, followed by Peru with 701 cases, Colombia with 683 cases, Bolivia with 591 cases, and Mexico with 141 cases.

The Region of the Americas is home to all four dengue virus serotypes (DENV1, DENV2, DENV3, and DENV4). Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Venezuela have all recorded simultaneously movement of all four serotypes in 2023 up to EW 26 (ending on 1 July), while DENV1, DENV2, and DENV3 serotypes circulate in Argentina, Panama, Peru, and Puerto Rico, and DENV1, DENV3, and DENV4 serotypes circulate in Nicaragua.

The Region of the Americas reported 2 811 433 dengue cases in 2022, the third-highest number ever and only topped by 2016 and 2019.

With more than 3.1 million instances for the Region of the Americas in 2019, there were more dengue cases than ever before, including 28 203 severe cases and 1823 fatalities.

Many variables, including the deployment of control measures and the shift in temperature and climate, primarily in the Southern Cone, have contributed to the decline in cases in some nations in the Southern Cone and the Andean subregion between June 12 and July 1, 2023. Additionally, there is a delay in the notification of data from some Central American and Caribbean nations.