Global landmark: 2023 marks the worst year for dengue cases with millions infected and thousands of deaths reported

Najmul Haider; Mohammad Nayeem Hasan; Joshua Onyango; Md Asaduzzaman

doi:10.1016/j.ijregi.2024.100459

Global landmark: 2023 marks the worst year for dengue cases with millions infected and thousands of deaths reported

IJID Reg. 2024 Sep 26:13:100459. doi: 10.1016/j.ijregi.2024.100459. eCollection 2024 Dec.

Authors

Najmul Haider¹, Mohammad Nayeem Hasan², Joshua Onyango³, Md Asaduzzaman⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Keele University, Keele, United Kingdom.
² Department of Statistics, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
³ The Harper and Keele Veterinary School, Keele University, Keele, United Kingdom.
⁴ Department of Engineering, University of Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 2DE, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Objectives: In 2023, the world experienced the worst dengue virus (DENV) outbreak on record. The study aimed to identify global regions and continents with high burden of dengue in 2023.

Design: We collected data on the number of DENV cases and deaths reported by various countries to the World Health Organization and World Health Organization regional offices. We estimated DENV cases per million population and case fatality ratio (CFR) among the confirmed cases reported by each country.

Results: Overall, in 2023 more than 6.5 million cases and over 6,800 deaths attributed to DENV were recorded globally, marking a historic milestone. Two distinct hotspots of DENV circulation emerged: South America and South and Southeast Asian regions. South America reported the highest number of cases (3,924,992), and 1,946 deaths, with a CFR of 0.05. In Asia, 1,622,405 cases and 3,637 deaths were reported, with a CFR of 0.22. We observed a statistically significant difference in the number of cases and deaths per million across different continents (P-value <0.001). However, the CFR did not differ significantly across continents (P-value = 0.123).

Conclusions: The increased cases and mortality highlight the urgent need for a comprehensive global approach aimed at DENV infection control, including vaccine development, vector control, public health initiatives, and improved clinical management.

Keywords: Climate change; Dengue outbreak; Dengue surveillance; Dengue vaccine.