Daily newspaper view of dengue fever epidemic, Athens, Greece, 1927-1931

Abstract

During the late summers of 1927 and 1928, a biphasic dengue epidemic affected the Athens, Greece, metropolitan area; >90% of the population became sick, and >1,000 persons (1,553 in the entire country) died. This epidemic was the most recent and most serious dengue fever epidemic in Europe. Review of all articles published by one of the most influential Greek daily newspapers (I Kathimerini) during the epidemic and the years that followed it did not shed light on the controversy about whether the high number of deaths resulted from dengue hemorrhagic fever after sequential infections with dengue virus types 1 and 2 or to a particularly virulent type 1 virus. Nevertheless, study of the old reports is crucial considering the relatively recent introduction of Aedes albopictus mosquitoes and the frequent warnings of a possible reemergence of dengue fever in Europe.

Figure

Map of Greece and deaths in the dengue fever epidemic, 1927–1928. The numbers are from the September 22, 1928, issue of the newspaper, I Kathimerini, and are ≈30%–40% lower than the official final death total. The first numbers indicate deaths per 1,000 inhabitants of each affected city (arrows); the number after the semicolon shows the total number of fatal cases from the epidemic in the respective location.