ABSTRACT
Since 1977, successive introduction of new serotypes has occurred in the Caribbean, Central and South America [6]. In 1981, a case of DHF was reported in the Caribbean and since then epidemics have occurred in Latin America a ecting more than 10 countries in the region [6]. e areas of the globe a ected by dengue in the 1990s were Latin America, northern Australia, Africa, China, India, southeast Asia, and various Paci c Islands [3,5]. In 2001, more than half of the total cases of dengue reported in Latin America [610,000] occurred in Brazil. Currently, Brazil has the highest number of cases of the disease in the Americas [5]. However, Venezuela has the highest number of hemorrhagic cases. One hundred million cases of dengue are reported in the world every year. As the disease spreads to di erent areas worldwide, the number of cases and the number of explosive outbreaks has been increasing [3,5]. e expanding geographic distribution of the four dengue virus strains and their mosquito vectors are responsible for the spread of dengue. e most important mosquito vector of dengue is the predominantly urban species Ae. Aegypti [3,5,6]. A rapid increase in urban populations, especially in areas that are adequate for mosquito breeding (e.g., areas where solid waste disposal is not properly done and areas where household water reservoirs vulnerable to mosquito larvae are common), is increasing the numbers of people in contact with this vector.
