The CDC warns of elevated danger of dengue within the U.S. This been a record-breaking 12 months for instances of this mosquito-borne virus in Central and South America, with greater than 9 million instances reported.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
It has been a record-breaking 12 months for dengue instances in Central and South America – virtually 10 million instances up to now, greater than any 12 months on report. The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention is now warning of an elevated danger of dengue infections within the U.S. NPR well being correspondent Pien Huang is right here to inform us about it. Hey, Pien.
PIEN HUANG, BYLINE: Hey, Ari.
SHAPIRO: Any concept why the virus is surging now?
HUANG: So a few causes. No. 1, this can be a mosquito-borne virus. And it has been a heat, moist 12 months in South America, so there’s much more mosquitoes round. Mosquitos are additionally thriving in additional locations because of local weather change, in order that’s No. 1. No. 2 is that dengue is cyclical. There are typically large outbreaks each couple of years. The final large one was in 2019. And a part of the explanation for that’s that there is truly 4 totally different strains of dengue. Individuals who get one pressure are protected for a few years, then the immunity wears off they usually’re inclined to getting one of many different strains. So this population-level immunity comes and goes in cycles. After which there’s additionally the truth that individuals within the U.S. are touring much more as of late.
SHAPIRO: Nowadays which means, like, summer season trip? Or simply broadly, typically talking, individuals journey extra?
HUANG: Positively much more because the pandemic. So I spoke with Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, an environmental scientist at Emory College. He says we won’t simply blame the mosquitoes.
GONZALO VAZQUEZ-PROKOPEC: Human mobility, both quick or longer distances, play a big position in transferring the viruses round. So people are the vector. People are those which are transferring the virus even an extended distance than mosquitoes.
HUANG: He says one of many the reason why issues went fairly quiet within the final couple of years is that journey mainly shut down throughout the COVID pandemic. So now that individuals are touring extra typically – seeing household, outdated mates, locations they have not been – they’re getting bitten by mosquitoes with dengue, they usually’re bringing it to wherever they are going subsequent.
SHAPIRO: So how unhealthy is it? I’ve a way that, like, you’d fairly get dengue than malaria, however you do not need to get dengue.
HUANG: Nicely, dengue is definitely one of many world’s most typical mosquito-spread ailments. And in 75% of the instances, the individuals who get contaminated do not truly get very sick.
SHAPIRO: Nicely, that is good.
HUANG: Yeah, that is good. However in 1 / 4 of these instances, they do, and people signs might be fairly terrible, Ari. Folks can get excessive fevers, debilitating complications, joint pains. And in some extreme instances, it could possibly trigger individuals’s blood vessels to leak, and it could possibly result in shock and even loss of life.
SHAPIRO: Not good. OK, I stated the CDC is warning about danger in the USA. How extreme is that danger? Who needs to be fearful?
HUANG: Yeah, so it actually will depend on the place you reside. The chance just isn’t unfold equally throughout the nation. Up to now this 12 months, there have been about 2,000 instances within the U.S. and most of these instances have been in Puerto Rico, the place dengue is endemic. Puerto Rico truly declared a public well being emergency over dengue a couple of months in the past. There have additionally been some instances reported within the U.S. Virgin Islands, some in Florida. In recent times, native transmission has been seen in Texas, Arizona, California.
Gabriela Paz-Bailey, head of CDC’s dengue department, says that individuals who traveled to Puerto Rico or different locations which are experiencing large dengue surges ought to concentrate on the danger. It is particularly harmful for infants, pregnant ladies and the aged. However she says that they don’t seem to be truly anticipating large surges of dengue throughout the continental U.S. the summer season. What they do anticipate to see is extra travel-related instances and small chains of transmission associated to them. She says that they really need medical doctors to be looking out for instances and to check for it.
SHAPIRO: NPR’s Pien Huang. Thanks.
HUANG: You are welcome.
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