Trends in dengue research in the Philippines: A systematic review

Dengue is an important public health problem in the Philippines. We sought to describe the trends in dengue research in the country. We searched four databases and identified published studies on dengue research in the Philippines during the past 60 years. We reviewed 135 eligible studies, of which 33% were descriptive epidemiologic studies or case series, 16% were entomologic or vector control studies, 12% were studies on dengue virology and serologic response, 10% were socio-behavioral and economics studies, 8% were clinical trials, 7% were on burden of disease, 7% were investigations on markers of disease severity, 5% were on dengue diagnostics, and 2% were modeling studies. During the last decade, dengue research in the Philippines has increased and evolved from simple descriptive studies to those with more complex and diverse designs. We identified several key topics where more research would be useful.Author summary: Dengue is a disease caused by four separate but related viruses transmitted by mosquitos. In this systematic review, we aimed to describe dengue research in the Philippines, where the disease is of great concern, to better understand the types of dengue research and the main findings and important gaps. We identified 135 studies that described dengue research in the Philippines during the past 60 years. Our review showed that in the early years, dengue studies were mainly simple descriptive studies and case reports. Recently the types of investigations have become more complex and diverse, reflecting advancement in local research capacity and infrastructure but more research activity would be beneficial in several areas.