Amer Jnl Trop Med & Hyg, May 2012
The Economic Burden of Dengue
Duane J. Gubler.
In 2012, dengue is the most important vector-borne viral disease of humans and likely more important than malaria globally in terms of morbidity and economic impact. The latest studies estimate 3.6 billion people living in areas of risk, over 230 million infections, millions of cases of dengue fever, over 2 million cases of the severe disease, and 21,000 deaths.
In addition to the public health and economic costs, there is a major social impact in those countries where large epidemics occur, often disrupting primary care for hospitalized patients. Given the dramatic urban growth and lack of adequate surveillance for dengue in tropical developing countries in the past 50 years, it is likely that even these figures underestimate the true disease burden of dengue.
