Chronic Disease Epidemiology of Dengue Fever in Africa

Background In recent times, outbreaks of Dengue fever has increased worldwide although such outbreaks are poorly documented in Africa. The situation has been compounded by the absence of diagnostic facilities and proper medical examination resources which often result in misdiagnosis of malaria and inadequate treatment. Objectives To describe the epidemiological pattern of Dengue virus infection in Africa from 2007– date and provide useful information for risk assessment. Methods Literature search was done with published reports from Pubmed, Googlescholar and reference lists from selected studies. The quality of studies was assessed. For each study, a Mantel–Haenzel, adjusted relative risks with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were performed for possible confounding factors. The fixed effect model was used to combine values from single studies for age, sex and socio‐economic status. Separate meta–analyses were performed on results from studies grouped with similar characteristics. Findings Seven case–control studies were selected and utilized for the meta–analysis. Quality scoring for individual studies ranged from 0.38–0.61 (median, 0.53). Mantel–Haenzel based on incidence of dengue fever gave a pooled relative risk estimate of 2.31 (95% CI; 2.15–2.69). Age and socio economic status were found to be significantly associated with incidence of dengue fever while there was no sex differential among the subjects. Conclusion These findings suggest a gradual re–emergence of the deadly Dengue virus. Multinational collaboration efforts are suggested to curb its expansion across African confines. Support or Funding Information Supported by Institutional Resources of USAT, the Einstein Institute and the University of Lagos