Dengue symptoms range from mild and flu-like to high fever, rash, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain. The joint pain can be so severe that Dengue has been given the name ‘breakbone fever’. Nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite are also common. In the more severe form, sometimes called dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF), blood vessels start to leak and cause bleeding from the nose, mouth, and gums. Without prompt treatment, the blood vessels can collapse, causing shock (dengue shock syndrome) and ultimately fatality.
There are around 25,000 fatalities each year and severe cases require hospitalisation and constant monitoring. Dengue is an extremely expensive disease, estimated to cost the global economy over US$5 billion per year.
Dengue is caused by four different, but related, viruses (known as DENV-1,2,3 and 4). Once infected, a person can develop a lifelong immunity to that strain of the virus but can become more susceptible to the other three strains.
There is neither specific medication nor vaccine for dengue. The only way currently to control the disease is to control the mosquito, Aedes aegypti, which spreads the disease.
Dengue fever occurs in most tropical areas of the world (read more on the Epidemiology page). It is common in Asia, the Pacific, Australia, Latin America and the Caribbean. A recent Natural Defense Resource Council report shows that 28 US states are now at risk.