Study estimates 390 million dengue cases a year in world, with India having highest burden

The annual number of cases of dengue worldwide is three times higher than the World Health Organization’s estimate, a new study indicates.

The multinational study, published in Nature,1 estimated that the number of infections stood at 390 million a year (95% confidence interval 284 million to 528 million), rather than the current WHO estimate of 50-100 million a year.2 It also showed that India had the highest burden of the disease, accounting for about a third of the world’s cases.

Dengue has seen a global resurgence recently despite extensive control efforts. Transmitted by Aedes aegypti, which unlike …