United States: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), three locally acquired dengue infections have been reported in Los Angeles County this year.
This is unusual for the area, where there have been at least 3,085 nationally reported domestically acquired viruses so far this year, as indicated in CDC data.
More about the news
The CDC has reported that there have been almost twice the dengue cases acquired locally so far this year nationally as compared to the previous year.
Now, Puerto Rico stands for the biggest portion of those cases – with over 2,960 cases recorded. They said the United States territory declared a public health emergency in March.
According to Mayor Emmanuel J. Estrada, “The City of Baldwin Park is aware of the recent cases of locally acquired dengue in our community. While the risk of transmission remains low, we must take this situation seriously and act proactively,” ABC News reported.
About rising Dengue cases
Dengue viruses are transmitted to humans through the execution of a series of mosquito bites. The only common illness to be reported in patients is fever accompanied by aches and pains in the body, nausea, vomiting, and rash.
These signals normally manifest within two weeks after exposure to the infected mosquito and have a duration of 2-7 days. Depending on the severity, most people are able to get over the flu within the week.
Prevalence of Dengue
Local transmission also suggests that the people affected have had no recent visits to an area in which dengue fever is common. Dengue is mostly transmitted within communities in tropical and subtropical regions of the earth – including Florida and US territories in the Caribbean.
This year, there were only two locally acquired cases diagnosed in the state of California, which, in fact, were the first locally acquired cases in California in over a decade, according to CDC data, ABC News reported.
In June, the CDC released a health alert to notify healthcare professionals about the higher risk of the dengue virus in the year.
The CDC reported that worldwide new cases of dengue are the highest on record. The agency also added that cases are likely to rise to higher levels as temperatures continue to rise across the world.
The main recommendation that one can make to do away with the dengue virus is to avoid being bitten by a mosquito, as stated by the CDC.