Epidemiology and Disease Burden of Pediatric Dengue in Venezuela

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral disease that has evolved from a sporadic infection to a major public health problem in the Americas, Southeast Asia and the western Pacific, and Africa. Its incidence has increased 30-fold over the past 50 years, and although the true disease burden is not well known, the annual incidence in some areas of the Americas may reach 5%-10% of all children when underreporting is considered. We recently analyzed the disease burden of dengue in Venezuela, and we found an overall decline in case numbers and mortality over the period of 1950-2011. However, there were increases in case number and mortality during epidemic years, especially among children. In this report, we focus on the most recent period of data, from 2000 to 2011, comparing pediatric and adult case numbers and mortality.