Dengue is an infectious disease caused by four serotypes of the Dengue virus and transmitted mainly by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and, less frequently, by the Aedes albopictus mosquito (the tiger mosquito), both capable of also transmitting Zika and chikungunya (different from the mosquitoes responsible for malaria, the Anopheles, and West Nile, the Culex).
Up to 400 million people are infected with the virus every year; of these, almost 100 million become ill and 40,000 die due to severe clinical forms (severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, bleeding).
In Italy in 2024, 117 cases were notified; no cases in Sardinia in 2023 and 2024.
Most infections are asymptomatic or produce only mild clinical forms. Symptoms (high fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, nausea and vomiting, rash) usually begin 4-10 days after infection and last 2-7 days. Almost half of the world's population (4 billion people) lives in areas at risk of infection. Mainly urban and semi-urban areas with tropical and subtropical climates are affected. Prevention and control of dengue depends on interventions on mosquitoes. There is no specific treatment for the disease, but early diagnosis and symptomatic therapies reduce the risk of death.
Climate change could change the epidemiological scenario for European Union member countries. (Dengue mosquito photo, United Nations)
