title: Tackling dengue fever: Current status and challenges.
abstract: According to recent statistics, 96 million apparent dengue infections were estimated worldwide in 2010. This figure is by far greater than the WHO prediction which indicates the rapid spread of this disease posing a growing threat to the economy and a major challenge to clinicians and health care services across the globe particularly in the affected areas.This article aims at bringing to light the current epidemiological and clinical status of the dengue fever. The relationship between genetic mutations, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and the pathophysiology of disease progression will be put into perspective. It will also highlight the recent advances in dengue vaccine development.Thus far, a significant progress has been made in unraveling the risk factors and understanding the molecular pathogenesis associated with the disease. However, further insights in molecular features of the disease and the development of animal models will enormously help improving the therapeutic interventions and potentially contribute to finding new preventive measures for population at risk.
authors.affiliation: King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. tnedjadi@kau.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Taoufik
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nedjadi
authors.affiliation: Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. saelkfrawy@kau.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Sherif
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: El-Kafrawy
authors.affiliation: Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. ssohrab@kau.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Sayed S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Sohrab
authors.affiliation: UMR PIMIT (I2T team), University of Reunion island, INSERM U1187, CNRS 9192, IRD 249, Technology Platform CYROI, 2 rue Maxime Rivière Saint-Clotilde, La Reunion, 97491, France. philippe.despres@univ-reunion.fr.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Desprès
authors.affiliation: King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. gdamanhouri@kau.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Ghazi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Damanhouri
authors.affiliation: Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. eazhar@kau.edu.sa.
authors.forename: Esam
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Azhar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000379:methods*; D003715:Dengue / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D053059:Dengue Vaccines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D053059:Dengue Vaccines