Dengue fever is an acute infectious disease caused by a virus, occurring year-round but peaking during the rainy season. The humid weather creates favorable conditions for mosquitoes to thrive and transmit the disease.
A person can be infected with dengue fever 4 times in their life.
Types of dengue virus:
– The dengue virus has 4 serotypes:
- Dengue 1.
- Dengue 2.
- Dengue 3.
- Dengue 4.
– Features of the dengue virus serotypes:
- Similar in their ability to cause illness.
- Different in their antigens.
How the body produces antibodies against the dengue virus
- When the dengue virus enters the human body, it produces a specific type of antigen.
- The immune system recognizes this virus antigen and produces corresponding antibodies to destroy and combat the virus, protecting the body.
How many times can a person contract dengue fever in their lifetime?
When a person is infected with one of the dengue virus serotypes, their body gains lifelong immunity to that particular serotype. However, reinfection with a different serotype is still possible. Therefore, a person can be infected with dengue fever 4 times in their life, corresponding to the 4 dengue virus serotypes.
In reality, most individuals only contract dengue fever once, with some cases experiencing it twice. It is very rare for someone to contract dengue fever for a third or fourth time.
