NewsDesk @bactiman63

In a follow-up on the autochthonous dengue fever situation in Florida this year, state health officials reported four additional cases during the past week, bringing the total to 15 cases year to date.

Image/CDC

The four new cases were reported from Miami-Dade (2), Hardee and Polk counties.

In 2023, 15 cases of locally acquired dengue have been reported in Broward (2), Hardee, Miami-Dade (11) and Polk counties with onsets in January, March, June (3), and July (10).

Of the fifteen cases, 11 were serotyped as DENV-3, three were DENV-2 and one case was DENV-1.

In addition to the locally acquired cases, Florida has reported 234 cases with a travel history to a dengue-endemic area in the two weeks prior to onset. 70 percent of the travel associated cases were linked to Cuba.

Bay, Hardee, Jefferson, Nassau, Orange, Polk, St. Johns, and Walton counties are currently under a mosquito-borne illness advisory. Broward, Escambia, Manatee, Miami-Dade, and Sarasota counties are currently under a mosquito-borne illness alert.

Dengue is a disease caused by a virus spread through mosquito bites. The disease can take up to 2 weeks to develop with illness generally lasting less than a week.

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Health effects from dengue include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, rash, muscle and joint pain, and minor bleeding.

Dengue can become severe within a few hours. Severe dengue is a medical emergency, usually requiring hospitalization.

In severe cases, health effects can include hemorrhage (uncontrolled bleeding), shock (seriously low blood pressure), organ failure, and death.