Dengue fever

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection.
Dengue virus is transmitted by female mosquitoes mainly of the species Aedes aegypti and, to a lesser extent, Ae. albopictus.
These mosquitoes are also vectors of chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika viruses.
Dengue is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas.
The virus responsible for causing dengue, is called dengue virus (DENV).
There are four DENV serotypes, meaning that it is possible to be infected four times.

Dengue is a severe, flu-like illness that affects infants, young children and adults, but seldom causes death.
Symptoms usually last for 2–7 days, after an incubation period of 4–10 days after the bite from an infected mosquito.
The World Health Organization classifies dengue into 2 major categories: dengue (with / without warning signs) and severe dengue.

There is no specific treatment for dengue fever.
Fever reducers and pain killers can be taken to control the symptoms of muscle aches and pains, and fever.

The first dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia (CYD-TDV) was licensed in December 2015 and has now been approved by regulatory authorities in ~20 countries.

Two independent research studies — one from a group in Israel and another from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (CSIR-IICB) in Kolkata — show that tests specific to check for dengue sometimes led to a positive SARS-CoV-2 test.
The scientists warn that this could lead to misdiagnosis and skew public health responses in places where dengue is endemic and known to seasonally spike.

Because the viruses that cause dengue and coronaviruses belong to entirely different families, it is not expected for one to show affinity to the other.
However, the above finding prompts deeper investigation into whether there are crucial similarities in the structure of these viruses.
Better understanding of the relationship between the two viruses could help understand variations in mortality.
India and Brazil are highly endemic for dengue as are many parts of southeast Asia.

https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/dengue-virus-tests-may-sometimes-return-positive-for-coronavirus-study/article32416613.ece
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dengue-and-severe-dengue

Today Current Affairs Upsc Exam Syllabus & Previous Yearpaper.