South Florida Reports 5th Locally-Acquired Dengue Fever Case

The Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County (DOH-Miami-Dade) has issued a mosquito-borne illness alert after a 4th locally-acquired Dengue Fever case was confirmed.

According to a DOH-Miami-Dade news release on September 13, 2019, these 4 Dengue cases ‘don't appear to be related.’

Also, the Miami Herald reported a 5th locally-acquired Dengue case in Broward County, which is just north of Miami-Dade County.

In Florida, the Dengue virus is spread through bites from the Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes. 

This news is concerning since Florida’s airports are international gateways to the Caribbean, Central, and South America.

As of September 14, 2019, the state of Florida reported 186 cases of dengue fever during 2019 in individuals with travel history to a dengue-endemic country in the 2 weeks prior to onset.

Moreover, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has already confirmed 2,384,029 Dengue cases in the Americas during 2019.

The PAHO said in its weekly report the highest Dengue incidence rates in Central America are Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

The Dengue virus has 4 sub-types. Most people infected with Dengue have mild or no symptoms. Those that do develop symptoms recover after about 1 week.

Severe Dengue can occur resulting in shock, internal bleeding, and death says the Florida DOH.

The DOH-Miami-Dade continues to advise the public to remain diligent in their personal mosquito protection efforts by remembering to “Drain and Cover.”

DRAIN

• Drain water from garbage cans, house gutters, buckets, pool covers, coolers, toys, flower pots or any other containers where sprinkler or rainwater has collected.
• Discard old tires, drums, bottles, cans, pots and pans, broken appliances and other items that aren't being used.
• Empty and clean birdbaths and pet's water bowls at least once or twice a week.
• Protect boats and vehicles from rain with tarps that don’t accumulate water.
• Maintain swimming pools in good condition and appropriately chlorinated. Empty plastic swimming pools when not in use.

COVER

• Clothing - Wear shoes, socks, and long pants and long-sleeves. This type of protection may be necessary for people who must work in areas where mosquitoes are present.
• Repellent - Apply mosquito repellent to bare skin and clothing. Always use repellents according to the label. Repellents with DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, para-menthane-diol, and IR3535 are effective.
• Use mosquito netting to protect children younger than 2 months old.
• Cover doors and windows with screens to keep mosquitoes out of your house.
• Repair broken screening on windows, doors, porches, and patios.

The Dengue prevention vaccine Dengvaxia was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration during May 2019. 

Dengvaxia is a live attenuated tetravalent chimeric vaccine made using recombinant DNA technology by replacing the PrM (pre-membrane) and E (envelope) structural genes of yellow fever attenuated 17D strain vaccine with those from the four dengue serotypes.

Dengvaxia is indicated for the prevention of dengue disease caused by dengue virus serotypes 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Dengvaxia is available in about 20 countries around the world and is available in the USA for children ages 9-16.

Additionally, there are dengue vaccine candidates in late-stage clinical trials, such as TAK-003.

For more information on what repellent is right for you, consider using the Environmental Protection Agency’s search tool to help you choose skin-applied repellent products.

For more information, visit DOH’s website or contact DOH-Miami-Dade County.

The Florida Department of Health works to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts. For more information about the Florida Department of Health please visit Florida Health.