Dengue fever also known as break-bone fever is a mosquito-borne viral disease occurring in tropical and subtropical regions, especially during the rainy season. The virus is called dengue virus (DENV) and has four serotypes, meaning that one can be infected four times and each time is severe than the last and can cause permanent damage to the body.
Presently dengue is common in more than 100 countries and almost forty percent of the world’s population, i.e. 3 billion people live in areas with a high risk of dengue fever. According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, each year 400 million people are infected by the dengue virus, approximately 100 million get sick from infection, and 22,000 die due to severe dengue. Currently, dengue cases are on the rise in the Caribbean.
Dengue, in recent years, has been the biggest concern in India due to its hot and humid climate that is suitable for the growth of the dengue-carrying virus. In 2018 alone more than one lakh people in the country were diagnosed with dengue fever and 172 died of severe dengue. National Vector Borne Disease Control Programmer (NVBDCP) claimed that 2017 was an even worse year with 1.88 lakh dengue cases...read more