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. 2008 Sep;116(9):A382-8.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.116-a382.

Dengue reborn: widespread resurgence of a resilient vector

Melissa Lee Phillips

Dengue reborn: widespread resurgence of a resilient vector

Melissa Lee Phillips. Environ Health Perspect. 2008 Sep.
No abstract available

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Figures

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A child watches as a worker fumigates to prevent dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases, Old Havana, Cuba, January 2008.
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Aedes aegypti, the primary vector for dengue, has become perfectly adapted to the urban environment. In the wake of discontinued eradication efforts, Ae. aegypti has reinfested nearly every region from which it was eliminated.
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In the wake of rapid urbanization and heightened global travel since World War II, the number of both dengue cases and countries reporting infection has climbed precipitously. Source: WHO; http://www.who.int/csr/disease/dengue/impact/en/index.html
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A systematic eradication program largely eliminated Ae. aegypti in the Americas by the 1970s. But once the program was discontinued, the vector came back stronger than ever. Source: Arias JR. 2002. Dengue: how are we doing? Washington, DC: Pan American Health Organization.
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Scientists recently modeled the estimated baseline population at risk for dengue infection in 1990 (A) and in 2085 (B) using climate data for 1961–1990 and projections for humidity change—a function of climate change—for 2080–2100. Ranges above indicate percentage of the population at risk: 0–10%, 10–20%, etc. However, many scientists do not agree that climate change will appreciably alter the risk of dengue. Source: Hales S, et al. 2002. Potential effect of population and climate changes on global distribution of dengue fever: an empirical model. Lancet 360:830–834.
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Dengue is transmitted by mosquitoes that have become perfectly adapted to the urban environment. Areas where there is poor sanitation and overcrowding (such as Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, above and below) are ripe for epidemics. According to the Brazilian Ministry of Health, Rio was the site of about half the dengue cases in an epidemic that swept this country in spring 2008.
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A worker fumigates a house in Old Havana, Cuba, January 2008. Control of mosquitoes with pesticides is one of the few methods currently available to rein in dengue. Systematic habitat destruction also has proved effective in the past.
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Comment in

  • Dengue transmission.
    Mariappan T. Mariappan T. Environ Health Perspect. 2009 Feb;117(2):A56. doi: 10.1289/ehp.0800227. Environ Health Perspect. 2009. PMID: 19270769 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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