By John Salak –
Summertime with its hot and humid conditions has always been synonymous with mosquitoes. It’s an annoying convergence for most people, resulting in seemingly endless bug buzzings and itchy bites that can drive the sane to something close to insanity.
These pests are usually considered an unrelenting warm-weather nuance and nothing more. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, recently issued a warning that changes this equation. It reported that dengue cases have surged in the last year throughout the Americas, already doubling in size from 2023 for these countries, which includes the United States.
The dengue virus is spread through the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito, which also spreads Zika and Chikungunya, among other viruses. Worldwide, these infections are a deadly serious matter with up to 400 million people getting one of four dengue viruses annually, 100 million of these people getting sick from infections and 40,000 dying from severe dengue.
What’s worse, these infections don’t include other mosquito-borne issues, which make this buzzing bug the “deadliest animal in the world,” whose bites result in an estimated 600,000 deaths annually worldwide.
The most common dengue symptoms include fever accompanied by nausea, vomiting, rash and aches and pains. Of those infected, about five percent will develop severe dengue-related conditions, which can lead to shock, internal bleeding and even death in rare cases.
There is no specific medicine to treat dengue infections, although most people recover after about a week.
Puerto Rico has already declared a public health emergency with more than 1,500 cases reported in the first half of this year, while the number of dengue fever cases in the continental U.S. through the end of June has already pushed close to 1,000. These numbers pale in comparison to the number of cases throughout the Americas, which recorded more than 9.7 million infections through June, more than twice the 4.6 million cases reported for all of 2023.
The vast majority of dengue cases in the U.S. in any year stem from people traveling to other high-transmission regions, such as the Caribbean, Center and South America, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Direct transmissions, however, are also seen in more limited, but possibly rising frequencies in Puerto Rico, Florida, Hawaii, Texas, Arizona and California.
The CDC recommends anyone experiencing symptoms should immediately go to a local clinic or emergency room. It also advised health care professionals to be on the lookout for dengue infections among people with fever who have been in areas with frequent or continuous dengue transmission within 14 days before illness onset.
Beyond this, the agency recommends people undertake mosquito bite prevention measures if they live or are visiting areas with frequent or continuous dengue transmission. These measures would include using air conditioning and window screens when possible to lower the risk of mosquito bites indoors. In addition, individuals should dump and drain containers that hold water to reduce mosquito egg-laying sites in or around homes and neighborhoods.
The current surge in infections is also not likely to be an anomaly. There is reason to believe direct transmission cases in the continental U.S. also be on the rise.
“Dengue cases are likely to increase as global temperatures increase. Higher temperatures can expand the range of the mosquitoes that spread dengue, as well as affect other factors that facilitate virus transmission like faster viral amplification in the mosquito, increased vector survival, and changes in reproduction and biting rates. U.S. summer travel often overlaps with the months of increased dengue activity in many countries,” the CDC reported.
