Diarrhoea and HIV/AIDS were respectively about four and three times more common, while malaria, acute respiratory infections and dengue were about twice more common in the poorest quintile compared to the richest quintile.
According to current estimates, at least 100 countries are endemic of dengue and about 2.5 billion people are at risk in tropical and subtropical regions, with about 50 million dengue infections occurring annually [ 1, 2].
The populations were well informed about dengue and knew the essentials about the vectors.
When interviewing participants about dengue prevention practices, we asked about mosquito control practices generally, rather than Ae. aegypti, because most interviewees did not differentiate between mosquito species.
Knowledge about dengue symptoms was higher than about transmission: most interviewees named at least one correct dengue symptom (93.3%); the most symptoms named were fever (86.6%), headache (76.4%), and joint/muscle aches (67.9%).
In both regions people were well informed about dengue, but there was less knowledge about dengue vectors in the Asian sites.
It has been estimated that worldwide, about 100 million individuals annually develop dengue fever, including about 250,000 with hemorrhagic dengue fever [1].
The concern about dengue from participants in Iquitos was universal: all expressed concern about acquiring infection, and many mentioned that a person in their home and/or someone that they knew had had dengue.
Despite the fact that majority of the people had heard about dengue somewhere, a good proportion did possess deficiencies in their knowledge about the disease.
A total of 35 counties (28.5%) were affected by dengue fever, with about 40 million residents in those counties, accounting for about 45% of the total population of Guangdong province.
