History
The first record of a case of probable dengue fever is in a Chinese medical encyclopedia from the Jin Dynasty (266–420) which referred to a "water poison" associated with flying insects. The primary vector, A. aegypti, spread out of Africa in the 15th to 19th centuries due in part to increased globalization secondary to the slave trade. There have been descriptions of epidemics in the 17th century, but the most plausible early reports of dengue epidemics are from 1779 and 1780, when an epidemic swept across Southeast Asia, Africa and North America. From that time until 1940, epidemics were infrequent.In 1906, transmission by the Aedes mosquitos was confirmed, and in 1907 dengue was the second disease (after yellow fever) that was shown to be caused by a virus. Further investigations by John Burton Cleland and Joseph Franklin Siler completed the basic understanding of dengue transmission.The marked spread of dengue during and after the Second World War has been attributed to ecologic disruption. The same trends also led to the spread of different serotypes of the disease to new areas and the emergence of dengue hemorrhagic fever. This severe form of the disease was first reported in the Philippines in 1953; by the 1970s, it had become a major cause of child mortality and had emerged in the Pacific and the Americas. Dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome were first noted in Central and South America in 1981, as DENV-2 was contracted by people who had previously been infected with DENV-1 several years earlier.
Etymology
The name came into English in the early 19th century from West Indian Spanish, which borrowed it from the Kiswahili term dinga (in full kidingapopo, "disease caused by an evil spirit"). The borrowed term changed to dengue in Spanish due to this word existing in Spanish with the meaning "fastidiousness" and this folk etymology referring to the dislike of movement by affected patients. Slaves in the West Indies having contracted dengue were said to have the posture and gait of a dandy, and the disease was known as "dandy fever".The term break-bone fever was applied by physician and United States Founding Father Benjamin Rush, in a 1789 report of the 1780 epidemic in Philadelphia. In the report title he uses the more formal term "bilious remitting fever". The term dengue fever came into general use only after 1828. Other historical terms include "breakheart fever" and "la dengue". Terms for severe disease include "infectious thrombocytopenic purpura" and "Philippine", "Thai", or "Singapore hemorrhagic fever". Society and culture
Blood donation
Outbreaks of dengue fever increase the need for blood products while decreasing the number of potential blood donors due to potential infection with the virus. Someone who has a dengue infection is typically not allowed to donate blood for at least the next six months. Awareness efforts
A National Dengue Day is held in India on 16 May in an effort to raise awareness in affected countries. Efforts are ongoing as of 2019 to make it a global event. The Philippines has an awareness month in June since 1998.