Current:Home > reviewsU.S. officials warn doctors about dengue as worldwide cases surge -FutureProof Finance
U.S. officials warn doctors about dengue as worldwide cases surge
View
Date:2025-04-18 02:05:55
U.S. health officials on Tuesday warned doctors to be alert for dengue cases as the tropical disease breaks international records.
The virus, which is spread by mosquitoes, has been surging worldwide, helped by climate change. In barely six months, countries in the Americas have already broken calendar-year records for dengue cases.
The World Health Organization declared an emergency in December, and Puerto Rico declared a public health emergency in March.
Dengue remains less common in the continental United States, but in the 50 states so far this year there have been three times more cases than at the same point last year. Most were infections that travelers got abroad, and officials note there is no evidence of a current outbreak. But they also warn that local mosquitos pose a threat.
In its health alert Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised doctors to know the symptoms, ask questions about where patients recently traveled and consider ordering dengue tests when appropriate.
"Global incidence of dengue in 2024 has been the highest on record for this calendar year," the CDC said in its advisory, adding that so far this year, countries in the Americas have reported more than 9.7 million cases, twice as many as the 4.6 million cases reported for the whole of 2023.
Often referred to as dengue fever or "break-bone fever," due to pain being a major symptom, dengue (pronounced DEHN'-gay) is caused by a virus spread by a type of warm weather mosquito that is expanding its geographic reach because of climate change, experts say.
About 1 in 4 people infected with dengue will get sick, the CDC says, with symptoms ranging from mild to extreme. About 1 in 20 people who get sick will develop severe dengue, which can result in shock, internal bleeding and even death.
Repeated infections can be especially dangerous.
There are four types of dengue virus, simply known as 1, 2, 3 and 4. When someone is first infected, their body builds antibodies against that type for life. If they get infected with another type of dengue, the antibodies from the first infection may fail to neutralize the second type —and actually can help the virus enter immune cells and replicate.
That's a concern in Puerto Rico, which for the last two decades has been widely exposed to type 1. Last month, the island reported its first dengue death of the year.
"We're currently seeing is increases in the cases due to dengue 2 and dengue 3, for which the population has very little immunity," said Dr. Gabriela Paz-Bailey, the Puerto-Rico-based chief of the CDC's dengue branch.
There is no widely available medicine for treating dengue infections.
Vaccines have been tricky. U.S. officials in 2021 recommended one vaccine, made by Sanofi Pasteur. The three-dose vaccine is built to protect against all four dengue types and is recommended only for children ages 9 to 16 who have laboratory evidence of an earlier dengue infection and who live in an area —like Puerto Rico— where dengue is common.
Given those restrictions and other issues, it hasn't been widely used. As of late last month, only about 140 children had been vaccinated in Puerto Rico since shots became available there in 2022, and Sanofi Pasteur has told the CDC it is going to stop making the vaccine.
A different vaccine made by the Tokyo-based pharmaceutical company Takeda is not currently licensed in the U.S. Others are in development.
Across the world, more than 6.6 million infections were reported by about 80 countries last year. In the first four months of this year, 7.9 million cases and 4,000 deaths have been reported, according to the World Health Organization. It's been particularly intense in the Americas, including in Brazil and Peru.
In the United States, the numbers have been far more modest —about 3,000 cases last year in U.S. states and territories. But it was the worst in a decade, and included more infections that occurred locally, courtesy of native mosquitoes. Most were in Puerto Rico, but about 180 were in three U.S. states — Florida, Texas and California.
So far this year, there have been nearly 1,500 locally acquired U.S. cases, nearly all of them in Puerto Rico.
- In:
- Health
- Dengue Fever
- California
- Florida
- Puerto Rico
veryGood! (41)
Related
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- Mega Millions jackpot grows to $223 million. See winning numbers for Nov. 10.
- House Republicans look to pass two-step package to avoid partial government shutdown
- For the first time, gene-editing provides hints for lowering cholesterol
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- UK leader fires interior minister and brings ex-leader Cameron back to government in surprise move
- Florida-bound passenger saw plane was missing window thousands of feet in the air, U.K. investigators say
- Myanmar army faces a new threat from armed ethnic foes who open a new front in a western state
- Federal court filings allege official committed perjury in lawsuit tied to Louisiana grain terminal
- Translations of Vietnamese fiction and Egyptian poetry honored by translators assocation
Ranking
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Former NFL cornerback D.J. Hayden among 6 dead after car accident in Houston
- Florida-bound passenger saw plane was missing window thousands of feet in the air, U.K. investigators say
- DOJ argues Alabama can't charge people assisting with out-of-state abortion travel
- Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
- The West is running out of water. A heavy snow could help, but will it come this winter?
- Mac Jones benched after critical late interception in Patriots' loss to Colts
- Biden to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping Nov. 15 in San Francisco Bay area
Recommendation
Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
Former NFL Player D.J. Hayden Dead at 33 After Car Crash
4 dead, including Texas police officer, during hostage standoff: 'Very tragic incident'
Romania inaugurates an F-16 jet pilot training center for NATO allies and neighboring Ukraine
Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
Gordon Ramsay and Wife Tana Welcome Baby No. 6
Must-Have Items That Will Make It Look Like A Professional Organized Your Closet
Main Gaza hospital goes dark during intense fighting; Netanyahu says no ceasefire possible until all hostages released