What is dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever?
Dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever is a viral illness that is spread from human-to-human by the bite of dengue virus-carrying mosquitoes. It has become the most common arboviral illness (infections caused by viruses transmitted by arthropods such as mosquitoes and ticks) transmitted worldwide, with about two fifths of the world’s population now at risk. It is becoming a major public health problem. Dengue infection causes a severe flu-like illness and is known as dengue fever. Some patients who have suffered dengue fever from one of four serotypes of dengue virus may be re-infected with another dengue serotype and develop a more severe form of dengue fever called dengue haemorrhagic fever. This is a leading cause of serious illness among children in some Asian countries and can lead to dengue shock syndrome, which may cause death.
