Dengue figures with their dates, the chikungunya risk guidance lists, where malaria occurs, why yellow fever vaccination is not recommended but a certificate can be required, and when a bed net matters.
The newest dengue figures and their dates
Dengue numbers move week by week, so a figure without a date means little. The Pan American Health Organization updated its Americas dengue report on 23 October 2026, with data as of epidemiological week 39 of 2026. It records a regional total of 1,813,577 suspected dengue cases, a figure it says is 55% below the same period in 2025 and 62% below the average of the last five years. It counts 614 deaths, a case fatality rate of 0.034%, and 565,945 laboratory-confirmed cases. Table 1 of the same report gives the Dominican Republic 1,187 cumulative suspected cases through week 39 and 61 cases in week 39 alone. PAHO says 46 countries reported cases in 2026. PAHO also counts 28,008 new suspected cases in week 39, including 76 classified as severe dengue and 10 deaths.
What a second PAHO update does and does not say
A second PAHO document, an epidemiological update dated 20 October 2026, carries dengue data as of week 37 and chikungunya data as of week 38. Its dengue country sections do not include the Dominican Republic and give no Dominican incidence or serotype figure, and its chikungunya country section omits the country too. What it does give is the regional picture: 1,692,937 suspected and 523,102 confirmed dengue cases with 571 deaths, plus 213,919 suspected and 78,481 confirmed chikungunya cases with 88 deaths across 20 countries and territories. PAHO frames the outlook around an anticipated intensification of El Niño and the approaching peak season in South America. For Dominican risk, the week 39 table remains the better source.
The chikungunya risk the guidance lists
Chikungunya appears in travel guidance for the Dominican Republic with careful wording. TravelHealthPro's country page states that the country has reported chikungunya cases in the past, or shares a land border with a country that has reported cases recently. That is a historical and regional statement, not a claim of a current outbreak. The same page lists a dengue risk and a Zika virus risk for the country, and states that there is no risk of yellow fever. On malaria it puts risk at low and says risk may be higher in areas bordering Haiti. It carries a generic Oropouche banner but no Dominican-specific outbreak item, so read each line as written. The page also notes that the country shares a land border with Haiti.
Where malaria occurs, and where authorities disagree
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention places malaria primarily in the provinces of Azua, Elías Piña, La Altagracia, San Juan and Santo Domingo, including resort areas. It also lists the Distrito Nacional and parts of Santo Domingo city, mainly La Ciénaga and Los Tres Brazos, and records the disease as rare elsewhere. It recommends preventive medicine for travel to those provinces. TravelHealthPro puts malaria at low risk in the country, with higher risk possible near the Haitian border, and states there is no malaria risk in the cities of Santiago and Santo Domingo. So the two authorities disagree about the city. The World Health Organization estimated 1,203 malaria cases and no deaths in 2024.
Yellow fever: not recommended, sometimes required
Both travel authorities state that yellow fever vaccination is not recommended for the Dominican Republic, because there is no risk of the disease in the country. Yet a certificate can still be required. TravelHealthPro states that a certificate is required for travellers aged 1 year or over arriving from Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo states in Brazil, and also for transit over 12 hours through those states. The CDC records the same requirement at the same age threshold and lists the same four Brazilian states. This rule protects against importing the virus, not against local transmission. Check your route and any Brazilian stopover before you travel, and ask a travel health professional about your own situation.
Which mosquitoes bite by day and which by night
Biting habits decide when protection matters. TravelHealthPro's factsheet 38 states that some mosquitoes bite during daylight hours, including Aedes species, while others are more active from dusk to dawn, including Anopheles species. It adds that Aedes aegypti can bite at night in well-lit areas, and that Anopheles can be active by day, at dawn and dusk, and throughout the night depending on species and place. The World Health Organization's chikungunya fact sheet describes the mosquitoes that spread chikungunya as biting primarily during daylight hours, with Aedes aegypti feeding both indoors and outdoors. Malaria, spread by night-biting Anopheles, is the reason bed nets matter most after dark. Dengue, Zika and chikungunya are daytime risks, so repellent belongs in your bag every day.
When a bed net matters, and what else works
A net earns its place in two situations. TravelHealthPro advises all travellers to malaria-endemic areas to sleep under a mosquito net unless the room is well screened or has working, switched-on air conditioning where mosquitoes cannot enter. The World Health Organization advises insecticide-treated nets for people who sleep during the daytime, giving young children, sick patients and older people as examples, because Aedes mosquitoes bite by day. For repellent, TravelHealthPro recommends DEET at 50% for travellers over two months and notes icaridin at 20% has similar properties; WHO names DEET, IR3535 or icaridin and refers users to the label. Apply repellent after sunscreen, use a 30 to 50 SPF sunscreen, and screen doors and windows with fine mesh.
Sources
- Report on the epidemiological situation of dengue in endemic countries of the Americas, as of epidemiological week 39, 2026: Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization
- Epidemiological Update: Dengue and Chikungunya in the Americas Region, 20 October 2026: Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization
- Dominican Republic country information: TravelHealthPro (UK National Travel Health Network and Centre)
- Dominican Republic, CDC Travelers' Health: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Insect and tick bite avoidance: TravelHealthPro (UK National Travel Health Network and Centre)
- Chikungunya (fact sheet): World Health Organization
- World malaria report 2025: World Health Organization
- Zika virus (fact sheet): World Health Organization
This article is general information, not medical advice. Ask a doctor or pharmacist about your own health.