Dengue Fever: What You Need to Know and How to Protect Yourself

Dengue fever, a mosquito-borne illness, is on the rise in the US. Here’s a quick guide on what dengue is and how you can protect yourself:

Mosquitoes are way more than just an annoying buzz in the summer. They can actually carry some pretty serious diseases, like West Nile virus, malaria, and Zika. Recently, there's been a strange increase in dengue fever cases in the US, which is a bit concerning.

So, what’s dengue and where is it showing up in the US? Dengue is caused by one of four related viruses, and not everyone who gets it will feel sick. If you do get symptoms, it usually feels like the flu and starts a few days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. If you have a fever and any of these symptoms—headaches, joint or muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, or a rash—it's a good idea to see a doctor, especially if you’ve been in an area where dengue is common.

Severe cases of dengue can be serious, leading to symptoms like low blood pressure, bleeding, stomach swelling, or extreme fatigue. These need immediate medical attention, and often require hospital care. But don’t worry too much—deaths from dengue in the US are rare.

Dengue isn’t spread directly from person to person; it’s spread through mosquitoes that have bitten someone already infected. So, if someone travels from a high-risk area with dengue and then gets bitten by a mosquito in the US, that mosquito can spread the virus further.

In the US, dengue cases are mostly reported in places like Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the US Virgin Islands, and in states like Florida, New York, Massachusetts, and California. While there’s been an increase, it’s still not as widespread as in other parts of the world.

As of now, the CDC has reported nearly 3,000 cases of dengue fever in the US and its territories. The states with the most cases are Florida, New York, Massachusetts, and California. Puerto Rico, which declared a public health emergency in March, had nearly 1,500 cases by late June 2024. Although the number of cases in the US is higher than in past years, it’s still relatively low compared to the global situation, where there were a record 9.7 million dengue cases across the Americas in the first half of 2024.

Right now, there’s no vaccine widely available in the US for dengue, although there is one for children in areas where dengue is common. It’s being phased out in 2025.

To protect yourself, especially if you’re traveling or living in high-risk areas, make sure to use mosquito repellent with DEET or other approved ingredients, wear long sleeves and pants, and try to stay in places with screens or air conditioning. Also, don’t let mosquitoes breed by getting rid of standing water around your home.

Hope this helps keep you all informed and safe!

Photo by Egor Kamelev: https://www.pexels.com/photo/macro-photo-of-a-brown-mosquito-1685610/