Two Lineages of Dengue Virus Type 2, Brazil | CDC EID

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Volume 16, Number 3–March 2010
Letter
Two Lineages of Dengue Virus Type 2, Brazil
Michelli Faria Oliveira1, Josélio Maria Galvão Araújo1, Orlando Costa Ferreira Jr., Davis Fernandes Ferreira, Dirce Bonfim Lima, Flavia Barreto Santos, Hermann Gonçalves Schatzmayr, Amilcar Tanuri, and Rita Maria Ribeiro Nogueira
Author affiliations: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (M.F. Oliveira, O. Costa Ferreira Jr., D.F. Feirreira, A. Tanuri); Instituto Oswaldo, Rio de Janeiro (J.M.G. Araújo, F.B. Santos, H.G. Schatzmayr, R.M. Ribeiro Nogueira); and Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro (D.B. Lima)

Suggested citation for this article

To the Editor: Dengue viruses (DENVs) belong to the genus Flavivirus (family Flaviviridae) and exist as 4 antigenic types, serotypes 1–4, each with well-defined genotypes. Dengue virus is associated with clinical manifestations that range from asymptomatic infections and relatively mild disease (classic dengue fever) to more severe forms of dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome. Dengue has become one of the most serious vector-borne diseases in humans. The World Health Organization estimates that 2.5 billion persons live in dengue-endemic areas and >50 million are infected annually (1).

In 1986, dengue virus type 1 (DENV-1) caused an outbreak in the state of Rio de Janeiro and has since become a public health concern and threat in Brazil. (2). In 1990, DENV-2 was reported in the state of Rio de Janeiro, where the first severe forms of dengue hemorrhagic fever and fatal cases of dengue shock syndrome were documented. The disease gradually spread to other regions of the country (3). In 2002, DENV-3 caused the most severe dengue outbreak in the country and sporadic outbreaks continued to be documented through 2005 (4).

Since 1990, two additional epidemics caused by DENV-2 have occurred (1998 and 2007–2008) in Brazil. A severe DENV-2 epidemic in the state of Rio de Janeiro began in 2007 and continued in 2008; a total of 255,818 cases and 252 deaths were reported (5). This epidemic prompted us to investigate the genetic relatedness of DENV-2 for all of these epidemics.

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Suggested Citation for this Article
Oliveira MF, Araújo JMG, Costa Ferreira Jr O, Ferreira DF, Lima DB, Santos FB, et al. Two lineages of dengue virus type 2, Brazil [letter]. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2010 Mar [date cited]. http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/16/3/576.htm

DOI: 10.3201/eid1603.090996