By NewsDesk  @bactiman63

In a follow-up on the dengue fever situation in Florida, the Florida Department of Health reported six additional autochthonous dengue fever cases from Miami-Dade County during the past week.

Image/CDC

This brings the total locally acquired dengue cases to 51 in Miami-Dade County and 55 statewide.

The majority of locally transmitted cases were identified as DENV-3, with DENV-4 and DENV-2 cases also reported.

Twenty-two cases of dengue were reported this week in persons that had international travel. In 2022, 754 travel-associated dengue cases have been reported, which includes more than 500 reported from Miami-Dade County.

Dengue fever is an important mosquito-borne disease worldwide. It is caused by four related dengue viruses (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, DEN-4) that are related to the viruses that cause West Nile infection and yellow fever.

A person can be infected with each of these four viruses during their lifetime.

Subscribe to Outbreak News TV on YouTube

Dengue infection is acquired through the bite of certain species of mosquitoes, primarily Aedes aegypti, but also Aedes albopictus, both of which are present in Florida.

Dengue fever can be a painful, debilitating disease but is rarely fatal. Symptoms appear 3-14 days after the bite of an infected mosquito and include sudden onset of fever, severe headache, eye pain, muscle and joint pain (giving the disease the nickname “breakbone fever”), and bleeding. Gastrointestinal symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea may also be present in some cases. Dengue fever symptoms usually lasts 4-7 days. The disease is often diagnosed incorrectly because the symptoms are similar to influenza and other viruses.

Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a rare but more severe form of dengue infection that can be fatal if not recognized and treated with supportive care. The primary risk factor for hemorrhagic fever is previous infection with a different dengue serotype (i.e. getting DENV-2 if you have already DENV-1 puts you at increased risk of hemorrhagic fever).