A review of dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand: A raising concern and public health nested crises

  1. Naluepanat Yodjan

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Abstract

Dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever, caused by the dengue virus (DENV) belonging to the Flaviviridae family, has become a significant public health concern that has led to more than 1,000,000 cases and 1076 deaths in Thailand between 2009 and 2021. The patients infected with the dengue virus can be represented with severe headaches, eye pain, muscle and joint pains, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, swollen glands, and rash. Coexisting with the COVID-19 pandemic affects humans in morbidity and mortality in Thai individuals, including effects on the healthcare system. COVID-19 and Its impacts confirmed that cases of dengue fever in 2021 in Thailand had been reported to decrease irregularly compared with the previous year; however, trends have increased in dengue cases since early 2022. Therefore, to overcome current burdens and challenges caused by dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever amidst COVID-19 in Thailand, exposing various perspectives on the dengue situation, recommendations for dengue fever control, and approaches to promote accurate understanding.

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  1. Access Microbiology

    The work presented is clear and the arguments well formed. This study would be a valuable contribution to the existing literature. This is a study that would be of interest to the field and community. The reviewers have highlighted major concerns with the work presented. Please ensure that you address their comments. Please address all comments made by the reviewers.

  2. Version published to 10.1099/acmi.0.000486.v1 on Access Microbiology
  3. Access Microbiology

    Comments to Author

    Yodjan is reviewing websites, peer-reviewed articles and guidance documents to analyze the developments around dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The structure of the article is appropriate for the format but there is a lot of general information in the article and little priority is given to the actual in depth analyses of the situation. Due to this the author fails to transmit a true message with the article. The fact that hospitals, laboratories, and authorities were prioritizing COVID-19 patients and testing for SARS-CoV-2 has widely and strongly negatively affected diagnostics for several communicable and non-communicable diseases - especially in low and middle income countries - if there was a particular situation in Thailand that deserves attention I recommend to expand this review to allow appropriate space to discuss the different aspects in more depth. A few comments that may help to improve the article: - animal species name like Aedes albopictus should be italicized this is also the case if the genus name f.e. Aedes is mentioned without the species - The format of the reference list - in particular on page 2 and 3 of the bibliography - is containing some characters that cannot be displayed - There is no reference mentioned for the data used to generate all four graphs shown in Figure 2

    Please rate the manuscript for methodological rigour

    Poor

    Please rate the quality of the presentation and structure of the manuscript

    Poor

    To what extent are the conclusions supported by the data?

    Not at all

    Do you have any concerns of possible image manipulation, plagiarism or any other unethical practices?

    No

    Is there a potential financial or other conflict of interest between yourself and the author(s)?

    No

    If this manuscript involves human and/or animal work, have the subjects been treated in an ethical manner and the authors complied with the appropriate guidelines?

    Yes

  4. Access Microbiology

    Comments to Author

    Although an interesting concept (interactions between covid and arbovirus dengue), and the author does provide data showing a decrease in dengue during the start of the pandemic, this reviewer was left wanting more when reading this paper, which is very short and focused study, offering limited academic insights in its current form. And, interesting points that I would have thought were pressing to investigate were not provided. However, I find no issues with what is currently presented yet the authors could think about expanding discussion/research into the following areas listed below. What the effect of covid and covid mitigations were on dengue? Did the author think the reduction in dengue in Thailand was real or under diagnosis? Could they compare to other countries? And no discussion of this, nor Thailand's covid response was really provided. Additionally, no discussion of the potential problematic overlap between pro art dengue and covid in kids. Further, no discussion on covid/arbovirus (dengue) co-infection in a single person was discussed.

    Please rate the manuscript for methodological rigour

    Satisfactory

    Please rate the quality of the presentation and structure of the manuscript

    Satisfactory

    To what extent are the conclusions supported by the data?

    Partially support

    Do you have any concerns of possible image manipulation, plagiarism or any other unethical practices?

    No

    Is there a potential financial or other conflict of interest between yourself and the author(s)?

    No

    If this manuscript involves human and/or animal work, have the subjects been treated in an ethical manner and the authors complied with the appropriate guidelines?

    Yes