Dengue fever is a dengue virus infection, emerging rapidly and posing public health threat worldwide, primarily in tropical and subtropical countries. Nearly half of the world's population is now at risk of contracting the dengue virus, including new countries with no previous history-like Ethiopia. However, little is known about the epidemiology and impact of the disease in different countries. This is especially true in countries, where cases have recently begun to be reported. This review aims to summarize epidemiology, biology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, and diagnosis of dengue virus infection and its trend in Ethiopia. It may help countries, where dengue fever is not yet on the public health list-like Ethiopia to alert healthcare workers to consider the disease for diagnosis and treatment. The review retrieved and incorporated 139 published and organizational reports showing approximately 390 million new infections. About 100 million of these infections develop the clinical features of dengue, and thousands of people die annually from severe dengue fever in 129 countries. It is caused by being bitten by a dengue virus-infected female mosquito, primarily Aedes aegypti and, lesser, Ae. albopictus. Dengue virus is a member of the Flavivirus genus of the Flaviviridae family and has four independent but antigen-related single-stranded positive-sense RNA virus serotypes. The infection is usually asymptomatic but causes illnesses ranging from mild febrile illness to fatal dengue hemorrhagic fever or shock syndrome. Diagnosis can be by detecting the virus genome using nucleic acids amplification tests or testing NS1 antigen and/or anti-dengue antibodies from serum, plasma, circulating blood cells, or other tissues. Dengue cases and outbreaks have increased in recent decades, with a significant public health impact. Ethiopia has had nearly annual outbreaks since 2013, devastating an already fragmented health system and economy. Standardization of medication, population-level screening for early diagnosis and prompt treatment, and minimization of mosquito bites reduce overall infection and mortality rates.
Keywords: Biology; Clinical manifestation; Dengue; Diagnosis; Epidemiology; Pathogenesis.
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