National Dengue Day is observed on May 16 annually by the ministry of health and family welfare to spread awareness about the vector-borne disease which is transmitted through the Aedes aegypti.

In India, dengue is endemic in all states/UTs (except Lakshadweep and Ladakh).

Every year during the period of July-November, there is an upsurge in the cases of dengue in northern parts of the country. However, in the southern and western parts of the country, the disease has become perennial.

Dengue

• Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection, found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas.

• The incidence of dengue has increased 30-fold over the last 50 years. Up to 50-100 million infections are now estimated to occur annually in over 100 endemic countries, putting almost half of the world’s population at risk.

• Although an estimated 10-40 crore infections occur each year, over 80 per cent are generally mild and asymptomatic.

• The virus responsible for causing dengue, is called dengue virus (DENV). It is a virus of the Flaviviridae family and there are four distinct, but closely related, serotypes of the virus that cause dengue (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4). Recovery from infection is believed to provide lifelong immunity against that serotype. Subsequent infections (secondary infection) by other serotypes increase the risk of developing severe dengue.

• Dengue virus is transmitted by female mosquitoes mainly of the species Aedes aegypti and, to a lesser extent, Ae. albopictus. These mosquitoes are also vectors of chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika viruses.

• Aedes aegepti mosquito bites during daylight hours.

• While many DENV infections produce only mild illness, DENV can cause an acute flu-like illness. Occasionally this develops into a potentially lethal complication, called severe dengue.

• Severe dengue is a leading cause of serious illness and death in some Asian and Latin American countries. 

• There is no specific treatment for dengue/severe dengue. Early detection of disease progression associated with severe dengue, and access to proper medical care lowers fatality rates of severe dengue to below 1 per cent.

• The first dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia (CYD-TDV) developed by Sanofi Pasteur was licensed in December 2015 and has now been approved by regulatory authorities in 20 countries.

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