The actual numbers of dengue cases are underreported and many cases are misclassified.

One
recent (2013) estimate indicates that 390 million dengue infections occur every year (95% credible
interval 284–528 million), of which 96 million (67–136 million) manifest clinically (with any severity
of disease).1 Another (2012) study, of the prevalence of dengue, estimates that 3.9 billion people in
128 countries are at risk of infection with dengue viruses.2
While these figures are estimates – and should therefore be interpreted with the known limitations
that accompany modelling studies – they highlight the staggering epidemiological and economic
burden that endemic countries are facing. There is a large discrepancy between the dengue
burden estimated by academic groups and the dengue burden notified to WHO. The reasons for
this include lack of resources and capacity to survey dengue effectively, and the fact that many
countries report only laboratory-confirmed cases, which represent only a small majority of the total
number of dengue cases recorded and reported. Importantly, as shown in Figure 2, WHO does not
receive dengue case notifications from all affected countries. No cases are currently reported from
Sub-saharan Africa (AFRO) or the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO), which are estimated to
contribute significantly to the global burden of dengue.

Figure 2. Average number of suspected or confirmed dengue cases reported to WHO, 2010–2016

To enrich the use of data collected and notified by governments, WHO will publish dengue data on
the WHO website and prepare the first Global Dengue Report at the end of 2017.

1Bhatt S, Gething PW, Brady OJ, Messina JP, Farlow AW, Moyes CL et.al. The global distribution
and burden of dengue. Nature. 2013;496:504–7. doi:10.1038/nature12060.

2Brady OJ, Gething PW, Bhatt S, Messina JP, Brownstein JS, Hoen AG et al. Refining the global
spatial limits of dengue virus transmission by evidence-based consensus. PLoS Negl Trop Dis.
2012;6:e1760. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001760.