Reproductive Factors of Dengue and Chlamydia

Abstract

Dengue is a common mosquito borne infectious disease often occurring in tropical and subtropical climates caused by single stranded positive RNA viruses (DENV1-4) of the genus Flavivarus and family Flaviviridae while Chlamydia is a STD commonly prevalent in industrialized countries and is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, a gram negative bacteria. Reproductive Factor R 0 : The R 0 of any infection is the average number of cases a single infected case can generate during its infectious period in an infection free population and is influenced by several factors including number of contacts with an infected population, infective duration of patients, and infectiousness of the causative organism. The R 0 for dengue varies with temperature and increases during outbreaks. The R 0 for dengue in urban Australian settings will most likely be <1 although it has a tendency to be >1 during outbreaks. Dengue infections for people in urban Australian setting is mostly attributed to travels to dengue endemic areas mainly South East Asia (Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines) as preferred destinations which are major sources of dengue outbreaks. The R 0 for Chlamydia is difficult to calculate due to longer duration of infectivity, changing rates of partners and constant change in population over time. R 0 being more than 1 if it is not traced early and treated. Its prevention has been adversely affected by various social, environmental and behavioral factors.