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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Epidemiol.
Sec. Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Volume 5 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fepid.2025.1478425

Uncovering the Surge: Dengue Fever on the Rise

Provisionally accepted
Noah Wheaton Noah Wheaton 1,2Christian Wong Christian Wong 1,2Huda Gasmelseed Huda Gasmelseed 3Samrawit Zinabu Samrawit Zinabu 1Aseem Sood Aseem Sood 4Rithika Rajendran Rithika Rajendran 5Madison Shead Madison Shead 1,2Miriam Michael Miriam Michael 1*Amaya Sanders Amaya Sanders 1,2Tabitha Norton Tabitha Norton 1,2
  • 1 Department of Internal Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC, United States
  • 2 College of Medicine, Howard University, Washington DC, United States
  • 3 Department of Infectious Diseases, Howard University, Washington, DC, United States
  • 4 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, United States
  • 5 Department of Oncology, DC Medical Affairs Medical Center, Washington, DC, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Dengue fever, traditionally a tropical disease, has shown a notable increase in incidence within the United States over recent decades. This paper focuses on the increase in dengue fever cases in Maryland during increasing temperature and humidity and the expanding geographical range of Aedes mosquitoes, the primary vectors for dengue virus transmission. Electronic health data was used to identify patterns in dengue incidence from 2014-2024. Correlation analysis between temperature and dengue incidence and a review of humidity factors was conducted. Results indicate an increased incidence of dengue fever cases over the past decade. However, a reduction in dengue incidence was observed in 2019-2020, likely due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions. As global temperatures increase, the habitats suitable for Aedes mosquitoes have expanded, allowing for their proliferation in previously inhospitable regions.Additionally, higher temperatures can accelerate the life cycle and viral replication rates in these mosquitoes, further enhancing transmission potential. Humidity, another key environmental factor, influences the life expectancy of dengue mosquitoes. This research underscores the urgency of addressing climate change as a public health issue, emphasizing the need for integrated vector management strategies and public health preparedness to mitigate the growing threat of dengue in temperate regions. By understanding the interplay between global warming, humidity, and dengue transmission, we can better inform policy decisions and healthcare practices to curb the spread of this disease in Maryland and the United States.

    Keywords: dengue fever, Global Warming, Vector transmission, Aedes mosquito, viral infection

    Received: 09 Aug 2024; Accepted: 03 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Wheaton, Wong, Gasmelseed, Zinabu, Sood, Rajendran, Shead, Michael, Sanders and Norton. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Miriam Michael, Department of Internal Medicine, Howard University, Washington, DC, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.