Dengue in the Caribbean

To the Editor.— In the article on dengue fever in the United States by Malison and Waterman (1983; 249:496), no reference to either imported cases from the Dominican Republic or dengue outbreaks there was cited. I find this unusual, since all of its neighboring countries reported cases and the Dominican Republic is the second largest country in the Caribbean. With a sizable Dominican population (estimated at 400,000) in New York City that frequently travels to and from the Dominican Republic, one may reasonably assume that there may have been numerous undiagnosed cases of dengue in the New York area. It should be noted that nine cases of dengue were confirmed in New York in 1981.1 Finally, having been personally familiar with cases of dengue in the Dominican Republic in 1980, I believe that the same situation may have remained unchanged there in 1981. This is said not to hinder