Research on Dengue during World War II

Abstract

Most of the basic and significant contributions to our knowledge of dengue prior to World War II were made by honored members of the medical depart ment of the U. S. Army. Ashburn and Craig (1) provided the evidence for the viral etiology of the disease. Siler, Hall and Hitchens (2) clearly established the period of infectivity of dengue patients for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the period required for the development of the virus in these mosquitoes before they could transmit the infection, as well as the very long period during which these mos quitoes were capable of transmitting dengue. Simmons, St. John and Rey