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Review
. 2018 Apr 24;11(1):264.
doi: 10.1186/s13071-018-2830-8.

History, epidemiology and diagnostics of dengue in the American and Brazilian contexts: a review

Tiago Souza Salles  1   2 , Thayane da Encarnação Sá-Guimarães  1 , Evelyn Seam Lima de Alvarenga  1 , Victor Guimarães-Ribeiro  1 , Marcelo Damião Ferreira de Meneses  2 , Patricia Faria de Castro-Salles  3 , Carlucio Rocha Dos Santos  4 , Ana Claudia do Amaral Melo  1   5 , Marcia Regina Soares  1 , Davis Fernandes Ferreira  2   6 , Monica Ferreira Moreira  7   8
Affiliations
Review

History, epidemiology and diagnostics of dengue in the American and Brazilian contexts: a review

Tiago Souza Salles et al. Parasit Vectors. .

Abstract

Dengue virus (DENV), an arbovirus transmitted by mosquitoes, has become a major threat to American human life, reaching approximately 23 million cases from 1980 to 2017. Brazil is among the countries most affected by this terrible viral disease, with 13.6 million cases. DENV has four different serotypes, DENV1-4, which show a broad clinical spectrum. Dengue creates a staggering epidemiological and economic burden for endemic countries. Without a specific therapy and with a commercial vaccine that presents some problems relative to its full effectiveness, initiatives to improve vector control strategies, early disease diagnostics and the development of vaccines and antiviral drugs are priorities. In this study, we present the probable origins of dengue in America and the trajectories of its spread. Overall, dengue diagnostics are costly, making the monitoring of dengue epidemiology more difficult and affecting physicians' therapeutic decisions regarding dengue patients, especially in developing countries. This review also highlights some recent and important findings regarding dengue in Brazil and the Americas. We also summarize the existing DENV polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic tests to provide an improved reference since these tests are useful and accurate at discriminating DENV from other flaviviruses that co-circulate in the Americas. Additionally, these DENV PCR assays ensure virus serotyping, enabling epidemiologic monitoring.

Keywords: Dengue epidemiology; Dengue history; Dengue virus; Diagnostics of dengue; Serotyping.

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Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Dengue incidence associated with DENV serotypes in Brazil from 2010 to 2016. Bars: dengue incidence per 100,000 inhabitants related to the left Y-axis. Lines: DENV serotype percentage observed in samples analyzed by LACENs related to the right Y-axis. Calculations were performed for each region for every year using data available from the Brazilian Ministry of Health. 2010 data: up to the 9th week of monitoring. 2016 data: up to the 27th week of monitoring
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Total probable dengue cases per region of Brazil associated with serotyped samples. Bars: total probable cases related to the left Y-axis. Lines: total serotyped samples related to the right Y-axis. Calculations were performed for each region for every year using data available from the Brazilian Ministry of Health. 2010 data: up to the 9th week of monitoring. 2016 data: up to the 27th week of monitoring
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Serotyped samples (%) in several regions of Brazil from 2010 to 2016. The total percentage of serotyped samples was calculated in relation to the total probable cases observed in each region for every year using data available from the Brazilian Ministry of Health. 2010 data: up to the 9th week of monitoring. 2016 data: up to the 27th week of monitoring
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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