Dengue diagnosis and management

The majority of people infected with the dengue virus experience a flu-like febrile illness, but in a small proportion of patients, particularly children, the virus causes the blood vessels to become leaky which can induce shock and lead to death. Improved diagnosis and understanding of the disease process enable better outcomes for patients with severe dengue.

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Bridget Wills is Professor of Tropical Medicine and Honorary Consultant in Paediatrics at the Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, University of Oxford. She trained in paediatrics and infectious diseases in the UK and worked at the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, based at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, for more than 20 years before returning to the UK in October 2018.

Bridget’s clinical research focuses primarily on dengue and incorporates studies designed to improve dengue diagnosis and risk prediction for severe disease, randomised intervention trials aiming to improve dengue management, and research investigating the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the major complications of infection. Human challenge studies are now being explored as a novel approach to advance the development of dengue vaccine candidates, and she has recently received grant funding to explore the ethical, legal and regulatory issues surrounding execution of dengue challenge studies in endemic settings like Viet Nam.

In 2012 she was awarded the Ho Chi Minh City Medal by the People’s Committee of HCMC, and in 2018 she was awarded the Sir Rickard Christophers Medal by the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Bridget chairs the NDM-CGHR EDIA working group and is a member of the NDM EDI Committee.

Professors Tran Diep Tuan and Do Van Dung, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Professor Eng Eong Ooi, Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore

Professor Hannah Clapham, NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, Singapore

Professor Thomas Jaenisch, Colorado School of Public Health, Colorado, USA