Dengue is the most common arthropod-borne viral (Arboviral) illness in humans also known as breakbone fever an infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus transmitted by the bite of an Aedes mosquito. There are four distinct, serotypes of the virus that cause dengue (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4). Symptoms appear 3-14 days after the infective bite. About half of the world’s population is now at risk. Classic dengue fever is marked by rapid onset of high fever, headache, retro-orbital pain, diffuse body pain (both muscle and bone), weakness, vomiting, sore throat, altered taste sensation, and a centrifugal maculopapular rash. There is no vaccine available against dengue, and there are no specific medications to treat it. Bed rest and mild analgesic-antipyretic therapy are often helpful in relieving lethargy, malaise, and fever associated with the disease. Prevention is mainly by means avoiding mosquito bites or travel to an endemic area. Several vaccine candidates are currently being evaluated in clinical studies. Different attenuation mechanisms have been used to develop three of the leading candidates: 1) Chimerization with yellow fever 17D vaccine strain, 2) Combinations of defined mutations/deletions and chimeras, 3) Chimerization with dengue 2 PDK53 virus, attenuated by cell culture passage. Dengue prevention and management can now exploit opportunities presented by promising advances in vector control technology interventions, evidence-based clinical interventions and candidate vaccine developments.

Keywords: Dengue; Dengue fever; Breakbone fever; Dengue hemorrhagic fever; Dengue prophylaxis;