[The risk of dengue transmission: a space for stratification]

The emergence of dengue fever as a public health problem in the Americas is increasing. Its rapid spread in the region and the geographical dissemination of dengue infection has not been followed by a corresponding input of financial, human and technical resources necessary to control dengue fever epidemics. This situation compelled to the analysis of dengue transmission in Mexico with the objective of designing a strategy of dengue fever surveillance based on the stratification of transmission risks taking into account geographical variables like climate, rain precipitation, mean annual temperature and altitude, as well as socio-demographical variables like population density and socio-economic level. This strategy will permit the efficient use of the scant resources available for control, although the impact of dengue transmission is yet to be evaluated.