The spectrum of disease ranges from self-limiting illness to severe disease with complications that may result in death. Primary infection with any serotype may lead to acute illness defined as fever and other symptoms that may subside after 3 or 4 days. The patient may then recover completely, or the fever may return with a rash within 1 to 3 days.

The dengue virus persists through a person-Aedes aegypti-person transmission cycle. Following an infective blood meal the mosquito can transmit the virus after a period of 8-12 days of extrinsic incubation.