The CDC warns of elevated threat of dengue within the U.S. This been a record-breaking 12 months for circumstances of this mosquito-borne virus in Central and South America, with greater than 9 million circumstances reported.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
It has been a record-breaking 12 months for dengue circumstances in Central and South America – virtually 10 million circumstances to date, greater than any 12 months on report. The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention is now warning of an elevated threat 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 thought 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 rationale for that’s that there is really 4 completely different strains of dengue. Individuals who get one pressure are protected for a few years, then the immunity wears off and so they’re vulnerable 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: As of late that means, like, summer season trip? Or simply broadly, usually talking, individuals journey extra?
HUANG: Positively much more for the reason that 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 major function in shifting the viruses round. So people are the vector. People are those which might be shifting 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 principally shut down throughout the COVID pandemic. So now that persons are touring extra usually – seeing household, previous buddies, locations they have not been – they’re getting bitten by mosquitoes with dengue, and so they’re bringing it to wherever they are going subsequent.
SHAPIRO: So how unhealthy is it? I’ve a way that, like, you’d reasonably get dengue than malaria, however you do not wish to get dengue.
HUANG: Nicely, dengue is definitely one of many world’s commonest mosquito-spread illnesses. And in 75% of the circumstances, the individuals who get contaminated do not really get very sick.
SHAPIRO: Nicely, that is good.
HUANG: Yeah, that is good. However in 1 / 4 of these circumstances, they do, and people signs might be fairly terrible, Ari. Individuals can get excessive fevers, debilitating complications, joint pains. And in some extreme circumstances, it might trigger individuals’s blood vessels to leak, and it might result in shock and even demise.
SHAPIRO: Not good. OK, I mentioned the CDC is warning about threat in america. How extreme is that threat? Who ought to be nervous?
HUANG: Yeah, so it actually will depend on the place you reside. The danger is just not unfold equally throughout the nation. To date this 12 months, there have been about 2,000 circumstances within the U.S. and most of these circumstances have been in Puerto Rico, the place dengue is endemic. Puerto Rico really declared a public well being emergency over dengue just a few months in the past. There have additionally been some circumstances reported within the U.S. Virgin Islands, some in Florida. Lately, 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 might be experiencing large dengue surges ought to pay attention to the danger. It is particularly harmful for infants, pregnant girls and the aged. However she says that they don’t seem to be really anticipating large surges of dengue throughout the continental U.S. the summer season. What they do count on to see is extra travel-related circumstances and small chains of transmission associated to them. She says that they really need medical doctors to be looking out for circumstances and to check for it.
SHAPIRO: NPR’s Pien Huang. Thanks.
HUANG: You are welcome.
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