Dengue Fever Spreads to Florida's West Coast

The Florida Department of Health in Collier County (DOH-Collier) recently advised residents there has been an increase in mosquito-borne disease activity in areas near Naples, Florida.

A human case of locally-acquired dengue fever has been confirmed, and there is a heightened concern additional residents will become ill.

On August 25, 2022, DOH-Collier reminded residents and visitors to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes and to take basic precautions to help limit exposure.

"A mosquito picks up dengue fever in its salivary glands when biting a person infected with the virus," Patrick Linn, the district's executive director, reported to the Naples News. 

"The mosquito then passes the virus to each human she bites."

"The last locally acquired case was before 2000."

On south Florida's east coast, the Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County is under a mosquito-borne illness advisory following the confirmation of the fifth local case of dengue infection as of August 17, 2022.

The CDC says dengue is endemic in Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. 

From 2010–to 2020, approximately 95% of locally acquired dengue cases in the USA occurred in Puerto Rico.

Dengue is a virus spread through mosquito bites by Aedes mosquitoes.

Most people infected with dengue have mild or no symptoms. And those that do develop symptoms typically recover after about one week.

However, Severe dengue can occur, resulting in shock, internal bleeding, and even death.

As of August 2022, the World Health Organization and the U.S. FDA recommend dengue vaccines should be given to persons with confirmed prior dengue virus infection in dengue-risk areas.

There are now two authorized dengue vaccines in the world. 

On August 22, 2022, the Takeda QDENGA® vaccine was approved in Indonesia.

QDENGA (TAK-003) is a tetravalent dengue vaccine preventing dengue fever caused by any of the four serotypes of the dengue virus.

And the U.S. FDA authorized the Dengvaxia vaccine for limited use in May 2019 for people with laboratory-confirmed previous dengue infection and living in dengue-endemic areas.

Other dengue fever vaccine news is posted at Vax-Before-Travel.com/Dengue.