Dengue virus
Dengue virus is a type of virus that causes dengue fever, a disease that can range from mild to severe. Dengue virus is transmitted by mosquitoes, mainly the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus species, that bite during the day. Dengue virus belongs to the family Flaviviridae and the genus Flavivirus, which also includes other mosquito-borne viruses such as yellow fever, West Nile and Zika 1 . There are four known serotypes of dengue virus (DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4), and a possible fifth one (DENV-5) that has not been confirmed yet 1 . Each serotype can cause the same symptoms of dengue fever, but infection with one serotype does not provide lasting immunity to the others. This means that a person can get infected by dengue virus up to four or five times in their lifetime. Repeated infections increase the risk of developing severe dengue, also known as dengue hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome, which can be life-threatening 2 . The symptoms of dengue ...