Quantifying the Epidemiological Impact of Vector Control on Dengue

[Extract] Dengue virus (DENV) is a self-limiting illness in tropical and subtropical regions around the globe caused by four closely related, but distinct, virus serotypes (DENV-1, -2, -3, and -4) that are transmitted among humans by mosquitoes, primarily Aedes aegypti [1]. Approximately 4 billion people living in more than 128 countries are at risk of infection [2]. Each year there are an estimated 400 million new infections, of which about 100 million manifest as apparent illness [3]. The outcome of human infections ranges from asymptomatic to mild illness to severe, life-threatening disease [4]. DENV not only causes more human morbidity and mortality than any other arthropod-borne virus but it is also a growing public health threat. There has been a dramatic 4-fold increase in dengue cases between 1990–2013 and dengue continues to expand in geographic range [2,3,5,6].