Epidemiological characteristics of dengue fever cases in Korea, 2014-2018

Jeon Byoung-Hak, Park Sook Kyoung, Cho Eun Hee
Division of Control for Zoonotic and vector borne Diseases, Center of Infectious Diseases Control, KCDC

Dengue fever is a notifiable infectious disease in Korea since 2000. We analyzed dengue fever cases reported through the National Notifiable Infectious Disease Surveillance System (NIDSS) from 2014 to 2018. There were 1,063 imported cases of dengue fever reported to the NIDSS, of which 62.2% were male, and 74.4% was of individuals aged 20-49 years. About 98.5% of dengue virus infections originated from endemic countries in Asia. Imported dengue fever cases are regularly reported in Korea. The surveillance and response system should be strengthened to effectively control dengue fever as an increase in vector-borne diseases is forecasted due to global warming, an increase in imported cases and growing popularity of outdoor activities.

Keywords: Dengue, Imported cases, National Infectious Disease Surveillance System