Dengue is spread when someone is bitten by an infected female Aedes mosquito. The viral disease kills around 40,000 people every year, with up to 400 million infected annually. Bangladesh and Kenya are among the countries battling a deadly outbreak. Although most adults survive their first brush with the disease, people who are exposed to a second, different strain of dengue virus often develop more severe symptoms. This unusual quirk has complicated dengue vaccine development. Now, a human challenge trial that exposed 45 people to a modified mild strain of dengue virus is beginning to reveal the immunological underpinnings of dengue's second wind, according to a study published in Science Translational Medicine on 28 October1. Understanding the biology behind dengue's infection pattern could help researchers to develop better vaccines, says study co-author Leah Katzelnick, an epidemiologist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland. Part of...
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