[Dengue outbreak by virus type 4 in French Polynesia. I. General epidemiology - clinical specific aspects (author's transl)].

Authors describe an extensive outbreak of dengue 4 virus which is observed for the first time out of its Asian original focus. The whole archipelagos of French Polynesia have been contaminated in a space of four months. Usual form of the disease is typical with lightness of the symptoms. This outbreak has been implicated in the death of a child by shock; and two cases of reversible encephalitis have been certainly caused by this virus. The neurotropism is the main characteristic of dengue virus type 4.