Epidemiological Characteristics of Dengue Disease in Latin America and in the Caribbean: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Abstract

Dengue, an important mosquito-borne virus transmitted mainly by Aedes aegypti, is a major public health issue in Latin America and the Caribbean. National epidemiological surveillance systems, usually based on passive detection of symptomatic cases, while underestimating the true burden of dengue disease, can provide valuable insight into disease trends and excess reporting and potential outbreaks. We carried out a systematic review of the literature to characterize the recent epidemiology of dengue disease in Latin America and the English-speaking and Hispanic Caribbean Islands. We identified 530 articles, 60 of which met criteria for inclusion. In general, dengue seropositivity across the region was high and increased with age. All four virus serotypes were reported to circulate in the region. These observations varied considerably between and within countries and over time, potentially due to climatic factors (temperature, rainfall, and relative humidity) and their effect on mosquito densities and differences in socioeconomic factors. This review provides important insight into the major epidemiological characteristics of dengue in distinct regions of Latin America and the Caribbean, allowing gaps in current knowledge and future research needs to be identified.

Fighting the Dengue Virus

“…So the arrival of dengue virus vaccine is indispensable to prevent complications and death from dengue fever [2]. …”

“…Infection by one serotype confers a life-long immunity to that virus, but a subsequent infection with another serotype causes a more severe dengue disease with a mortality rate of 1-20% [2]. The patients infected with dengue virus may be asymptomatic or may present with a severe illness sometimes leading to death.…”

Review on Nowcasting using Least Absolute Shrinkage Selector Operator (LASSO) to Predict Dengue Occurrence in San Juan and Iquitos as Part of Disease Surveillance System

“…Sougata, Acebedo and Chua [9] explained that San Juan reported higher incidences of dengue due to tropical monsoon climate and population density stood at a two and half times much higher than Iquitos. Puerto Rico went through an epidemic period in 2007 and 2010 but systematic review conducted by [6] did not support local weather as a crucial factor in explaining the changes in the annual case in Puerto Rico.…”

“…Table I lists the scope of the "Predict the Next Pandemic Initiative" / "DengAI: Predicting Disease Spread" competitions [5]. Torres, Orduna, Piña-Pozas, Vázquez-Vega and Sarti [6] noted that Iquitos has equatorial climate with seasonal dengue outbreak during the rainy season around March. The Andean area experienced heavy downpour induced by the La Niña phenomenon in early 2011 as reported by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) [7].…”

Dengue Fever and Severe Dengue in Barbados, 2008–2016

“…Current dengue epidemiology research aids in vaccine planning initiatives as it describes the transmission dynamics within a population and the possible risk factors for DENV infections. In the Latin America and Caribbean, such epidemiological data is varied in approach which can lead to inconsistencies on the impact of age on disease burden and severity [3]. Dengue has been endemic in Barbados for over 30 years with the circulation of all four DENV serotypes [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12].…”