Early Dengue Virus Infection in Human Skin: A Cycle of Inflammation and Infectivity

Early events during dengue virus (DENV) infection remain poorly understood. In this issue, Schaeffer and colleagues employ ex vivo human skin cells to investigate viral infection. They show that skin-resident immune cells are infected by DENV and that their infectability is increased in the inflammatory skin conditions (especially those in which IL-4 is released) that accompany the mosquito bites transmitting the virus.