Dengue fever in Yemen: a five-year review, 2020-2024

Dengue fever (DF) is a mosquito-borne viral infection that has recently become a burden worldwide, particularly in low-income countries, such as Yemen. There have been no epidemiological studies on DF in recent years in Yemen. Therefore, based on secondary data, this study aimed to shed light on the epidemiology of DF in Yemen between 2020 and 2024.

This was a retrospective analysis using secondary data recorded between January 2020 and August 2024 in the Surveillance Center of the Ministry of Health and Population in Aden. The data was gathered in a Microsoft Excel file and descriptively analyzed.

A total of 104,562 dengue cases, aged between 1 and 80 years (SD = 24.93±17.02), were enrolled in this retrospective analysis. A higher proportion of DF cases was recorded among males (58.10%), the age group of 15-24 years (26.11%), in 2020 (30.65%), in the Taiz governorate (39.17%), and in the autumn (28.9%). The total incidence of DF was 103.09 per 10,000 individuals. Additionally, the incidence rate of DF per 10,000 individuals was significantly higher among males (118.3 cases), aged 25-34 years (91.73 cases), in 2020 (31.39 cases), and in the Shabwah governorate (176.96 cases). In general, the total fatality rate was 217 (0.21%), with a high rate among females (0.23%), aged ≥ 65 years (0.75%), in 2020 (0.37%), and the Aden governorate (0.82%).

These findings indicate that the rates of DF cases have increased in Yemen over the last few years. Therefore, it is critical to introduce an effective program to prevent DF and control dengue vector transmission in Yemen.