VIOLIN: Vaccine Investigation and Online Information Network

Pathogen Page

Dengue Virus

I. General Information

1. NCBI Taxonomy ID:

2. Disease:

Dengue Fever

3. Introduction

Dengue (DEN) viruses belong to the family Flaviviridae and consist of four distinct antigenic serotypes, DEN1–4. DEN viruses are transmitted primarily by the mosquito Aedes aegypti and cause over 100 million human infections per year, which are manifested clinically by either DEN fever (DF), a self-limited febrile illness, or more severe DEN hemorrhagic fever/DEN shock syndrome (DHF/DSS) usually with a mortality that ranges from 1 to 5%. Epidemic DF/DHF has been emerging as one of the most important global public health problems in the tropical and subtropical countries at the beginning of the 21st century. It is imperative to support research on the development of new mosquito control technology and on the establishment of preventive strategies, including the development of effective and safe dengue vaccines (Liu et al., 2006).

4. Microbial Pathogenesis

During the feeding of mosquitoes on humans, DENV is presumably injected into the bloodstream, with spillover in the epidermis and dermis, resulting in infection of immature Langerhans cells (epidermal dendritic cells [DC]), and keratinocytes. Infected cells then migrate from site of infection to lymph nodes, where monocytes and macrophages are recruited, which become targets of infection. Consequently, infection is amplified and virus is disseminated through the lymphatic system. As a result of this primary viremia, several cells of the mononuclear lineage, including blood-derived monocytes, myeloid DC, and splenic and liver macrophages are infected (Martina et al., 2009).

5. Host Ranges and Animal Models

Dengue is transmitted to humans by Aedes mosquitoes, mainly Aedes aegypti. There is no animal model of disease that mimics the disease in humans (Martina et al., 2009).

6. Host Protective Immunity

In most acute virus infection models, the presence of antibodies, both neutralizing and nonneutralizing, correlates with control, elimination, and eventually protection (Martina et al., 2009).

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