Dengue treatments and vaccines

Abstract

Dengue fever is a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes of the Aedes genus, whose incidence and range have been steadily increasing in recent decades. Causing hemorrhagic fever in severe cases, it affects the inter-tropical regions of the world and threatens to spread to new geographical areas. Its complex pathophysiology and the existence of four genetically distant serotypes make vaccine development a challenge. Currently, there is no specific treatment against dengue fever and only a few vaccines are marketed or in development, with some limitations on their use. It is therefore necessary to develop new vaccines and identify new molecules with antiviral properties to reduce the economic and public health burden of this disease in endemic areas.