Dengue fever in Pakistan: a paradigm shift; changing epidemiology and clinical patterns.
Dengue fever has huge public health implications and affects over 100 million people worldwide. This review pictures the current situation of Dengue in Pakistan and presents a review of published literature. Pakistan has seen recurrent epidemics of Dengue Fever recently. Unfortunately, these epidemics are becoming more severe in their clinical manifestation. Pakistan experienced large epidemics of dengue fever during 2008, 2010 and 2011 affecting thousands of people and claiming hundreds of deaths. A comparison of data during these epidemics indicates a shift from mild to a more severe disease, which could be interpreted as an epidemiologic transition pattern in the country. Expansion of Dengue in Pakistan seems to be multifactorial, including the climate change, frequent natural disasters, vector resistance to insecticides and lack of resources. This highlights the need for rigorous vector control. Continuing education of primary care physicians is crucial for early appropriate management to reduce mortality.
Barnet General Hospital, Barnet, UK.
Zahra
Z
Haider
Lahore General Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
Farina Zia
FZ
Ahmad
Lahore General Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
Asif
A
Mahmood
King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan.
Tariq
T
Waseem
Lymington New Forest Hospital, Lymington, UK.
Irfan
I
Shafiq
Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Bournemouth, UK.
Tanzeem
T
Raza
Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Javaria
J
Qazi
Kettering General Hospital, Kettering, UK.
Nasir
N
Siddique
Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Poole, UK doctormalikasif@gmail.com.
Malik Asif
MA
Humayun
D003715:Dengue / Q000453:epidemiology*; D058872:Epidemics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
Pakistan; dengue; dengue haemorrhagic fever; dengue serotypes; vector-borne diseases