From Editor’s Desk…
Public health officials and government officials around the globe are sounding the alarm about the unprecedented global spread of dengue fever, a notorious and potentially fatal disease. The risk of dengue fever is high enough to affect about half of the global population. The number of confirmed cases worldwide increased from half a million in 2000 to five and a half million in 2019, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). With reports of occurrences in 129 different countries, 2019 reached an unprecedented peak.
While milder infections may just produce flu-like symptoms, more severe dengue infections can cause internal bleeding and potentially death. People infected with dengue can have a wide range of symptoms. A substantial number of dengue patients do not have any symptoms at all.
The changing distribution of the vectors, especially Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, is one of the many factors that the dengue outbreak is more likely to spread, especially in countries where dengue has never occurred before. More than five million cases and five thousand deaths have been caused by dengue since 2023. This has occurred in more than 80 countries and territories across five WHO regions: South-East Asia, Western Pacific, Eastern Mediterranean, Africa, and the Americas.
These numbers likely do not represent the actual incidence of dengue because most primary infections do not cause any symptoms and reporting is not required in many nations.
Dr. Khalid Mohammed Alabdulwahhab
Editor in Chief
Key words: Editorial
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