The number of cases of dengue fever in the world have been doubling every year since 2021, According to the World Health Organization. Last year was the worst year on record for the number of dengue cases, about 6.5 million, and this year that number is expected to be doubled.
Several factors are hitting all at the same time. There are four types of dengue virus and all four have been at peak levels of transmission. The traditional culprit for the disease’s spread is the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, but now it is joined by another transmitter, the Aedes Albopictus, or tiger mosquito which can survive in a greater variety of territories and climates. The issue is not merely the number of mosquitoes, but the fact that they are living longer, picking up more diseases, and biting more victims. Worst of all, dengue is an urban disease that thrives on poverty and a biological breakdown.
