Daily Newspaper View of Dengue Fever Epidemic, Athens, Greece, 1927–1931

Christos Louis

doi:10.3201/eid1801.110191

Abstract

During the late summers of 1927 and 1928, a biphasic dengue epidemic affected the Athens, Greece, metropolitan area; >90% of the population became sick, and >1,000 persons (1,553 in the entire country) died. This epidemic was the most recent and most serious dengue fever epidemic in Europe. Review of all articles published by one of the most influential Greek daily newspapers (I Kathimerini) during the epidemic and the years that followed it did not shed light on the controversy about whether the high number of deaths resulted from dengue hemorrhagic fever after sequential infections with dengue virus types 1 and 2 or to a particularly virulent type 1 virus. Nevertheless, study of the old reports is crucial considering the relatively recent introduction of Aedes albopictus mosquitoes and the frequent warnings of a possible reemergence of dengue fever in Europe.

Highlights

In addition to these problems, the country was deeply divided politically into royalists and liberals, a division initiated early in 1915 by the rift between King Konstantin I and Prime Minister E
While publishing more jokes during the few weeks and further advertisements for FLY FUME, I Kathimerini did not mention the DF epidemic until August 1928, when an article reported that the epidemic during the fall of 1927 had resulted in 3,000 cases with 0 fatalities; a few days later, the number of ill persons was reported as 75,000
Did the high number of fatal cases in 1928 result from dengue hemorrhagic fever? Two reports support this notion on the basis of the limited serologic study of Athenians born around the time of the epidemic [2,3]

Summary

Introduction

In addition to these problems, the country was deeply divided politically into royalists and liberals, a division initiated early in 1915 by the rift between King Konstantin I and Prime Minister E. 1928 On August 2, 1928, when the second epidemic had been ongoing for several days, I Kathimerini began publishing frequent articles mentioning DF.

Results

Conclusion