Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of dengue fever, including spatiotemporal distribution, and demographic characteristics, as well as the spatiotemporal distribution of imported dengue fever cases in China in 2024,, and provide reference for effective prevention and control of dengue fever in China.

Methods The incidence data of dengue fever reported in China in 2024 were collected through the Chinese Disease Prevention and Control Information System for a descriptive epidemiological analysis on the spatiotemporal distribution and demographic characteristics of the cases, as well as the spatiotemporal distribution of the imported cases by using software Excel 2013 and R 4.0.2.

Results A total of 24 528 dengue fever cases were reported in China in 2024, which mainly occurred during August - November (94.55%). Guangdong and Yunnan were the provinces at high-risk with reported cases accounting for 70.22% and 25.20% of the total cases, respectively. In the indigenous cases, 25.65% were inter provincial transmission ones from 8 provinces (autonomous region, municipality) to 25 provinces (autonomous region, municipality), and 97.13% of the inter provincial transmission cases were from Guangdong and 74.35% of the indigenous cases were inter-city transmission ones within the same province from Foshan to Guangzhou in Guangdong. The imported cases in 27 provinces (autonomous region, municipality) in China were from 48 countries and regions around the world, as well as Hong Kong and Macau, China. The top two provinces with the highest imported case counts were Guangdong and Yunnan. The cases from southeast Asian countries, such as Indonesia and Laos, accounted for 74.57% of the total imported cases. Demographic characteristics of all the three types of dengue fever cases showed that more cases occurred in men (56.82%) than in women (43.18%), in age group 20～<60 years (70.13%) than in other age groups and in the jobless and unemployment (22.17%), farmers (16.36%), and businessmen (14.09%) than in other occupation groups.

Conclusion Dengue fever had obvious endemic and seasonal characteristics in China, 2024. The cases were mainly reported in Guangdong and Yunnan. The indigenous cases were mainly reported in Guangdong, while the imported cases were mainly from southeast Asian countries. Dengue fever cases exhibited obvious spatiotemporal clustering and imported transmission characteristics. It is suggested to strengthen epidemic surveillance in import and export hub areas ,such as Guangdong, and cross provincial joint prevention and control mechanisms, and conduct health education about dengue fever in for border port and migrant workers.