The CDC warns of elevated threat of dengue within the U.S. This been a record-breaking yr 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 yr for dengue circumstances in Central and South America – virtually 10 million circumstances up to now, greater than any yr on document. 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 yr 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 usually huge outbreaks each couple of years. The final huge one was in 2019. And a part of the explanation for that’s that there is truly 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 today.
SHAPIRO: Today which means, like, summer season trip? Or simply broadly, typically talking, individuals journey extra?
HUANG: Undoubtedly much more for the reason that pandemic. So I spoke with Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, an environmental scientist at Emory College. He says we will not simply blame the mosquitoes.
GONZALO VAZQUEZ-PROKOPEC: Human mobility, both quick or longer distances, play a major function in transferring the viruses round. So people are the vector. People are those which might be transferring the virus even an extended distance than mosquitoes.
HUANG: He says one of many the explanation why issues went fairly quiet within the final couple of years is that journey principally shut down through the COVID pandemic. So now that individuals are touring extra typically – seeing household, previous mates, 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 dangerous is it? I’ve a way that, like, you’d somewhat get dengue than malaria, however you do not need to get dengue.
HUANG: Properly, dengue is definitely one of many world’s most typical mosquito-spread illnesses. And in 75% of the circumstances, the individuals who get contaminated do not truly get very sick.
SHAPIRO: Properly, that is good.
HUANG: Yeah, that is good. However in 1 / 4 of these circumstances, they do, and people signs could be fairly terrible, Ari. Folks can get excessive fevers, debilitating complications, joint pains. And in some extreme circumstances, it will probably trigger individuals’s blood vessels to leak, and it will probably result in shock and even dying.
SHAPIRO: Not good. OK, I stated the CDC is warning about threat in the USA. How extreme is that threat? Who needs to be nervous?
HUANG: Yeah, so it actually is dependent upon the place you reside. The danger shouldn’t be unfold equally throughout the nation. Thus far this yr, 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 truly declared a public well being emergency over dengue a couple of 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 huge dengue surges ought to pay attention to the chance. It is particularly harmful for infants, pregnant girls and the aged. However she says that they don’t seem to be truly anticipating huge 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.
Copyright © 2024 NPR. All rights reserved. Go to our web site phrases of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional info.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This textual content might not be in its remaining kind and could also be up to date or revised sooner or later. Accuracy and availability could differ. The authoritative document of NPR’s programming is the audio document.
0 Comments