Immune Activation in the Pathogenesis of Dengue Virus Infection

Abstract

Dengue virus (DENV) is a positive-stranded RNA virus and belongs to the Flaviviridae family. The virus is transmitted by the bite of an infected Aedes-mosquito and circulates in tropical and subtropical areas around the world. The incidence of dengue has risen dramatically over the past decades. For years, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated a worldwide incidence of 50-100 million infections per year. However, this estimation was based on a rather simplified model. A recent study using cartographic approaches suggested that 390 million infections occur annually. The majority of the infected population (75%) will not show any clinical symptoms, but they are a potential reservoir from which other people can get infected. It is estimated that 70% of the clinical apparent DENV infections occur in South-East Asia, most probably due to the high grade of urbanization in this area, providing a lot of breeding places for mosquitos [4]. Approximately 14% of the DENV infections with clinical symptoms occur in the Americas and 16% on the African continent.