Epidemic behaviour of dengue in Colombia, 2009

Dengue is an endemic and epidemic viral disease areas tropical America, Africa and Asia, where its main vector, Aedes aegypti, it is present continuously. Dengue, however, it can also be transmitted by Aedes albopictus. Aedes aegypti is diurnal, house mosquito, which feed on humans ere prefi and is the most common among Aedes species. The causative agent is the dengue virus has four serotypes (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4) and belongs to the genre avivirus fl. Infection with one only provides immunity against that serotype, but people living in endemic areas may submit more than one infection during their lifetime. The classic dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever are endemic in areas tropical and subtropical and the four dengue serotypes circulate cyclically in humans and Aedes. The infection is wide spectrum ranging from a viral syndrome not specifi c to severe and fatal hemorrhagic disease. Among the risk factors to DHF are age and, especially, history of previous infection of the patient.