BRAZIL:  COVID and Dengue Cross-ReactivityA study led by Prof. Miguel Nicolelis from Duke

BRAZIL:  COVID and Dengue Cross-Reactivity

A study led by Prof. Miguel Nicolelis from Duke University has suggested that exposure to the mosquito-transmitted illness, dengue, may provide some level of immunity from COVID-19. The report, still in preprint, found a link between the spread of the virus and past outbreaks of dengue fever.

These maps by the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB) show the comparison between the geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases and dengue fever cases, summarizing all data from 2019 until May 2020. The findings suggest a possible immunological cross-reactivity between the two illnesses as areas with lower COVID-19 infection rates and slower case growth were places that had suffered recent intense dengue outbreaks.

Source:  American Geographical Society