WEDNESDAY, June 26, 2024 (HealthDay News) — On Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a health advisory warning of a heightened risk of dengue fever infections in the United States.
“Dengue transmission peaks during the warmer and wetter months in many tropical and subtropical regions,” the agency noted in its advisory. “Dengue cases are likely to increase as global temperatures increase.”
In the United States, Puerto Rico has been hardest hit: Of 2,241 U.S. dengue cases reported this year, 1,498 occurred in that U.S. territory in the Caribbean. In March, a public health emergency was declared there after cases of the mosquito-borne illness broke historical records. For comparison, 3,036 dengue cases were reported in all of 2023 in the U.S. and its territories.
Still, America is not the only country grappling with the troubling spread of dengue fever. This year, the global incidence of dengue fever has been the highest on record, especially in Latin American countries, where nearly 9.4 million dengue cases have been reported. That is twice as many as in all of 2023.
The CDC alert recommends that health care providers be on the lookout for dengue, particularly among patients with fever who have recently traveled to places where it is an endemic disease. They are also advised to quickly report any dengue cases to public health authorities and promote mosquito bite prevention measures for their patients.
The agency added that it is also improving and expanding laboratory testing to diagnose cases more quickly and effectively, as well as educating the public on the disease and how to prevent it.
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