Florida: Dengue virus symptoms and prevention explored as health officials issue warning

Dengue fever is currently on the rise in Florida, and the immense spike in dengue fever cases prompted health officials to issue a health alert against the mosquito-borne viral infection. In total, 10 locally transmitted cases were reported in the state in 2023. Local transmission of the illness led to huge concern in the sunshine state.

Dengue fever is a disease transmitted to humans through mosquito bites from the female Aedes mosquito that carries the virus. Milder symptoms of the disease can be confused with fever, body aches, eye aches, nausea, and rashes. Although there is no cure for the disease, its symptoms can be managed in about a week by following the healthcare provider's instructions.

Florida health officials issued a health alert against the spread of the virus in southern region of the state. A report released by the officials mentioned:

"Forty-three cases of dengue were reported this week in persons that had international travel. In 2023, 190 travel-associated dengue cases have been reported."

Regarding locally acquired cases the report revealed:

"Four cases of locally acquired dengue were reported this week in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. In 2023, 10 cases of locally acquired dengue have been reported."

The local transmission of the virus raised concerns as WHO reported that most US states see minimal local transmission of the disease. Most carriers in the country bring back the disease while visiting areas that contain the virus.

An August 4 statement from the Florida health department issuing an alert on mosquito-borne illness in Broward County confirmed that the county saw two locally acquired cases in 2023, the same number of cases seen in the entirety of the year before. Regarding local transmission, the statement revealed:

"Dengue is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito and is not normally present in Florida. However, infected travelers can bring the virus back to Florida mosquitoes."

At the time of this writing, no further information regarding the infected was disclosed to the public.

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Symptoms of dengue can often be mistaken for flu, but there are ways to prevent the dengue fever

Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne illness common to the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. As stated above, it is carried by the Aedes mosquito, which transmits the disease to humans through mosquito bites. While the virus cannot be transmitted from person to person, the only exception to this is that the disease can be passed on from an affected pregnant mother to her child.

There are four different strains of the virus. If a person has already been affected by one particular strain of the virus, it cannot affect them again as the body will have antibodies prepared against the illness. However, the rest of the strains can still affect the person. Currently, there is no specific medicine for the disease.

As per medical reports, one in every four people affected by the virus may get sick and develop symptoms similar to the flu. Out of the 400 million people that get affected, around 80% do not show the symptoms.

Mild symptoms of the disease include high fever, nausea, vomiting, rashes, pain behind the eye, bone aches, joint aches, body pain, swollen glands, and headaches. These symptoms can appear around 4-10 days after the bite that transmitted the disease and can last for about a week before a full recovery.

However, for an estimated 1 in 20 people affected by the disease, the symptoms worsen to a severe scale, which is also known as dengue hemorrhagic fever and the signs of the severe form may appear after a day or two of the disappearance of the initial fever.

The symptoms of severe dengue include frequent vomiting, vomiting blood, blood in stool, blood in urine, abdominal pain, bleeding gums, nose bleeds, bleeding under the skin, fatigue, extreme irritability, and restlessness. Severe dengue is categorized as a medical emergency, and the affected should be transported to the emergency room immediately as it may become life-threatening.

There are reportedly no cures for the disease itself, but certain helpful healthcare recommendations help manage the symptoms, which is the only way to recover from the disease. These include frequent hydration, frequent rest, taking Acetaminophen to control pain, and avoiding drugs like ibuprofen and aspirin as they may lead to bleeding.

In the case of this particular illness, prevention is the only way to keep safe from the disease as there is no cure. The Florida health department detailed a few measures that can be taken to ensure protection from mosquito-borne diseases.

The steps include draining water from areas that water has collected, like garbage cans, pools, flower pots, toys, and house gutters, as these areas can become a breeding ground for infected mosquitoes. Discarding old unused appliances such as tires and bottles also help in the same.

Moreover, emptying and cleaning birdbaths and water bowls of pets, using non-water-accumulating tarps to protect vehicles, emptying plastic swimming pools when not in use, and maintaining swimming pool water balance help prevent the disease.

When outside in an area infested with mosquitoes, completely covering the body using full sleeve shirts, socks, shoes, and, long pants also help to prevent mosquito bites. Another useful tool in preventing bites is using mosquito repellants on skin and clothing.

However, there is a vaccine called Dengvaxia available for the disease, which is recommended only if the person has been affected by the disease before. As such, it helps reduce the risk of a severe form of the disease in the future.

Getting vaccinated before having the disease once before only increases the risk of the severe form of the illness. But it is to be noted that the vaccine is not available in the continental United States.