WITH 50 million cases in the tropics each year, dengue fever is humanity’s most common insect-borne viral infection. Killing the mosquitoes that carry it is the only way to fight it, but now a large-scale survey in Thailand has revealed that this can make the deadliest form of dengue more prevalent.
Known as “breakbone fever”, dengue is painful but normally not fatal the first time around – the real threat is the second infection. There are four varieties, or serotypes. Say you get bitten by a mosquito carrying serotype A, and then a year later by one carrying serotype B. The antibodies you made in response to A bind to the B…
