Dengue Fever Hits Key West
79Breakout of Dengue Fever in Key West
Last summer In Key West there was a breakout of Dengue Fever being spread by mosquitoes which started about 9 months ago with 2 dozen cases. This is the first breakout in the U.S. Now we are having Dengue Fever as far north as northern Florida.
The mosquitoes pass the dengue fever to a person and to each other. At this point authorities state 5% of Key West residents have been affected. There is some chance that this fever will spread in the more tropical areas of the United States.
The female Aedes aegypti and the Aedes albopictus mosquitoes are the primary vectors for the spread of the fever. Biologists have actually created a mosquito killing bacteria to fight Dengue fever.
Key West has literally placed thousands of mosquito traps covering hundreds of acres as they fight these mosquitoes. You are most susceptible to getting bit at dawn and dusk.
Female Aedes aegypti Mosquito
Dengue fever Symptoms
Dengue fever is a viral infection that is debilitating but not usually fatal in otherwise healthy people. It can be diagnosed by a blood test. There is no vaccine to prevent Dengue fever at this time.
Once bitten it takes 6-7 days for the disease to develop. The symptoms are fevers as high as 104-105, severe headache behind the eyes, rash, swollen lymph nodes, vomiting muscle and joint pain with general malaise. The severity of the joint pain has given dengue the name "breakbone fever.” The rash appear 3-4 days after the beginning the fever. The illness may last up to 10 days but full recovery often takes a month. Children and young adults have about a 5% death rate
Dengue Fever Symptoms
Dengue vaccine clinical trials in Mexico
Ares of the World with Dengue Fever
World Wide Problem
Most people get milder cases but others become severely ill. Mayo clinic states, “Dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome — can additionally cause severe bleeding, a sudden drop in blood pressure (shock) and death.” Dengue hemorrhagic fever has not been reported in Key West.
Dengue is much more of a problem elsewhere in the hemisphere, with an estimated 4.6 million cases from 2000 to 2007 in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. It is also prevalent in Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific. Dengue fever is on the rise, particularly in poor countries that are highly populated.
Dengue Fever
Summary
The best thing you can do to prevent this fever
if you are in one of these tropical areas is to spray yourself from head to toe
with mosquito repellent before going out. Long sleeve shirts are helpful. Of course, you want to eliminate any standing
water around your house is you live in these areas, plus change water in pet
dishes and bird baths frequently is important. This is also probably not the best time to visit Key West at least without you mosquito repellent.
Some of my Other Health Hubs
- Lupus -New Hope for Lupus Disease
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, life-threatening autoimmune disease. Approximately 5,000,000 people worldwide, including approximately 1.5 million in the United States, suffer from... - Shingles -A Serious, Painful, Viral Disease
Shingles is a viral infection causing a painful rash that looks like a band of blisters which can appear many places on your body. It is caused by herpes zoster which is the same virus that causes chicken... - No CPR Certification Required to Save a Life
The new CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) is a wonderful life saving technique for sudden death and now much easier to accomplish than the using the older criteria. I taught CPR classes for many years,...
The copyright to this article is owned by Pamela Oglesby. Permission to republish this article in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
CommentsLoading...
Tom, I don't know much about that but you are probably right. Thanks for your comment.
Scary! Great job you did here!
Pamela
The Dense fever unlike the Dengue fever has already spread in this country. Although long suspected it was finally confirmed on November 2, 2008.
The Dense Fever is spread Hemaphroditically and was first conceived through the esoteric paring of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. It was then further spread through such parings as Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini; Che Guevara and Fidel Castro and most recently between Barrack Hussein Obama and Rham Emanuel.
A Further distinction between the two is the Dengue is debilitating but not usually fatal; the Dense always results in the death of Entire Countries.
The symptoms are similar; in the Dengue fevers run as high as 104-105, with the Dense Deficits run as high as 100 plus trillion $$$$. With both the citizenry develop severe headaches behind the eyes, rash, swollen lymph nodes, vomiting muscle and joint pain with general malaise; the malaise is the trigger symptom in the Dense Flu.
The Dengue last up to 10 days but full recovery will occur. With the Dense the entire population is doomed!
The best thing you can do to prevent this fever; if it is not too late is to listen to FOX News and Talk Radio. Of course, you want to persuade as many of your friends and family members to do the same because to eliminate this few; many more healthy people are needed!
Thanks for the Heads-Up Pamela;)
Habee, Thank you for your comment.
Patriot, Interesting analogy. You are right about telling everyone you know. Thanks for the comment.
Mentalist, Thanks for stopping by.
I've heard about this on the news, appreciate your details about it.
Sheila, Thanks for your comments.
Our family lived in Cambodia from 2000 to 2006. In May 2001, my wife and I and two of our sons all contracted dengue fever. My wife had a very severe case in terms of the bone-breaking part as did our second son Andrew. My older son T.J. and I did not get it as severely.
A week before my wife came down with it, a friend of mine from Australia came by the house for a prayer time together. Before we started praying he told that it was in the news that authorities in Cambodia were expecting a bad year for dengue fever. He described for me what happened when he got it and said I should do all I can to avoid it. He then told me the best thing to do if I did get it was drink lots of water.
Besides out own cases, I knew many other expatriate friends in Cambodia who had it. In my experience, women are more apt to get it more severely due to their monthly cycle especially women who are prone to anemia. My wife's case was very severe and even though the fever part was over in seven days, she was basically in bed for almost a month. The fever tends to spike at the beginning, subside in the middle and then spike again at the end. My wife's blood count dropped dramatically and she had to be put on an IV.(One side benefit for my wife was that God gave her a vision of four angels guarding her bed posts. This is noteworthy because we are more of the less charismatic style of Christianity.)
A week after my wife came down with it, I was walking up the stairs to check on her and all of a sudden I could feel my body chemistry begin to change and the fever come upon me. I called a moto-taxi driver from the street corner to take me to the local convenience store to buy water. I bought five two liter bottles and drank them all that first day. The advice my friend gave me really helped and I did not get the fever as severely as my wife.
Unlike malaria, there is no cure for dengue. No pills you can take. The only thing you can do is drink lots of water and take Tylenol to keep down the fever.
Do not take ibuprofen. I repeat do not take ibuprofen for the fever. Ibuprofen thins the blood and can cause non-hemorrhagic dengue to become hemorrhagic. This happened to a couple of my friends in Cambodia.
My understanding is the difference between the mosquitoes who carry dengue and those that carry malaria is that those that carry dengue breed in clean water which is why at least in Cambodia there is more dengue in the cities than malaria. One trick for the bird bath and other flower vases around the house is to put goldfish in them because they will eat the mosquito larva. I learned this from a Cambodian young man who used to tutor me in the Khmer language. He took a small goldfish from a pot outside and put in one of our glass vases. The fish swam aaound for a moment to get a lay of the tiny sea (so to speak) and then became an underwater vacuum cleaner - sucked everyone of the mosquito larva up in less than a second minute.
Hi, Pamela - Fascinating information about dengue fever and kudos to Patriot for the "dense fever" analogy. Both are extremely dangerous!
Hi Pam... there has to be a better use for these little critters, yet they are all part of creation. This year in our area is the worst year in many for them. Weekly rains and heat have created a problem. No matter where you go people are all sporting the smell of "Deet".
Pesky as they are again prayer for protection is so important, well between swats and slaps that is. Great information and one we certainly need to be aware of.
Blessings and Swaps...
Great hub wow. Trying to catch up with my favorite hubbers here. We got wes nile virus danger here. As much as I know they are valuable to our eco system I still do not like the mosquito. I say a prayer for forgiveness every time I have to kill one. Lol
ecoggins, I sure appreciate your story. I haven't known anyone who has had the disease and you added a lot of knowledge to my hub. I believe the angels were at your wife's bed posts as I know others with similar experiences. The gold fish are a great idea and I liked your story of the young man. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. God Bless.
drbj, I agree. Thanks for your comments.
Quill, I have heard stories about the huge mosquitoes in Canada. I appreciate your comments.
Janny, I hope you and your family stay safe. Thanks for your comments.
Mosquitoes have always freaked me out - what with all of the junk they bring to us! This is a very important hub and the information is wonderful and necessary. Thank you for writing on such a great topic.
K9
K9, I appreciate your comments. I think most bugs freak me out but these are really something awful.
I am surprised at this..the reason being it would be normal in a third world country but the US? Thanks for sharing with us.
You did a great job, Pamela.
That is kind of scary. Here we have to worry about west nile but it seems they do a good job of spraying within city limits because I haven't hardly noticed any mosquitoes this summer. I always learn interesting from your hubs.
Very informative hub Pamela. This sounds very nasty and people need to be aware. Here in Oz the mosquito carries a sickness called Ross River Fever. Sound very similar. Although not fatal to most it is a sickness that can take 12months or more before the sufferer is completely over it.
Thank you for sharing.
Loves to read, I am not familiar with Ross River Fever but it sounds bad. Thanks for sharing that information.
Boa constrictors, alligators, snakes, now dengue fever... Think I'll stay in California...
Dallas, Well, I can't blame you for that, although there is always a possibility of earthquakes, but then everywhere has some problem. Thanks for your comment.
Hi Pamela
A very interesting hub. Mosquitos are the carriers of so many different awful diseases around the world.
Amber:)
Amber, Yes, they are. Thanks for your comments.
A informative hub about a absolutely horrible disease. Thank you for the comprehensive information.
Hello, Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate your comment.
I am well acquainted with Dengue Fever. The Caribbean has a terrible problem all the time. We visit St. Maarten every year and each time I am so paranoid about every bite I get. No matter what I use, mosquitoes find me and love me.
Gosh - I'm glad I'm not there as mosquitos love me! We live on a wetlands too - just perfect for me but this summer has not been so bad. We had terrible frights with West Nile though a few times now. Great informative piece!
Pop, I appreciate your comments. I read that all the islands were having more problems this year.
Audry, West Nile is bad news also. Thanks for your comment.
That must be some really bad joint pain. Won't be going to Key West. Voted/rated.
Support Med, I think a lot of people would consider not traveling there at this time. Thanks for the comment.
Hi Pam, This is deadly, and coming from the Philippines where it is prevalent during the rainy season, I can see the worries about dengue fever. You're right, there is no cure until now for dengue fever. The danger of losing red blood corpuscle count makes it deadly, Maita
Miata, Your comments are right on target. Thanks so much for your input.
Thanks for the awareness of Dengue Fever Hits Key West! Knowledge is power world wide!
Katiem, That is true about knowledge. Thanks for your comment.
This is the best information on Dengue Fever that I have found on the internet.
Both my partner and I contracted Dengue in January of this year while living in Sosua in the Dominican Republic. We both had different symptoms over and above the debilitating fever, chills and horrific body aches.
I had the rash or peticias whereas his concern was fluid in his lungs (maybe from body surfing and not Dengue?)
In any event we were both admitted to the hospital and put on IV, replete with concoctions to benefit us individually and a lot of B vitamins. The Hematologist checked us every day and we both were appreciative of the efforts of the hospital if not their food.
He bounced back fine but I kept getting recurring fevers and when I recognized the pain behind my eyeballs on the last fever I suspected Dengue again (there are four strains) and as soon as physically able I came back to Canada to seek further medical attention.
I have nothing but the greatest appreciation for Centro Medico and specifically Dr Roberto Spitale but hey, our insurance was running out!
Nine vials of blood later it turns out that a small percentage of Dengue patients develop an intolerance to viruses in general or as my doctor here in Canada put it; “it's not the Dengue Virus itself but what your immune system decides what to do with it”.
Actually it is called Persistent Dengue Fatigue. Physicians are getting the idea now but locals have known this all along.
Similar to any fatigue syndrome it is hard to pinpoint but severe fatigue and depression that comes and goes is the basis of it all. I call it a swooping depression, all is fine and then like in some bad B movie a black veil swoops down and you are totally desolate and hopeless all the while knowing it is your brain and not your life but yet unable to stop the associated emotional pain.
On a lighter note the locals will tell you if you get Dengue you will probably get it again. If you die on the third episode you probably won’t get the fourth lol
I certainly learned a lot about mosquito control during this time and I promise I will post a hub on it when I have the energy. And as Arnold said; “I will be back”.
Blaine I miss you!
Safayderf, Wow! What a story. The disease sounds worse than those symptoms I wrote about, although some people do get a more severe for of the disease and that sounds like you.
My son and family lived in the DR on the south side of the island for about 3 years and I visited them on 2 occasions and never had that problem. I wonder if it is worse this year or maybe we were just lucky.
I appreciate you sharing your story and will look forward to your hub. I wish you a speedy recovery from this point on.
Great hub. This was very useful information.
Nancy, Thank you so much for your comment.
Pamela, pretty nice and interesting hub you actually did in here,never knew that mosquitoes can also transmit dengue fever even as little they look.Great job which was well shared and i acquired a lot knowledge.
Sun-girl, I'm glad the hub was useful to you and I appreciate your comments.
Dengue fever is also prevalent in my country. I wonder if another effort like the March of Dimes could be launched to come up with a vaccine as the disease is caused by virus. It could be easier to make a vaccine now that technology is well developed unlike during the time of Salk who had to invent some methods like culture of virus. I heard that dengue has seven serotypes, poliovirus only three. I have a hypothesis that dengue virus can be chelated with,say, vitamin C. There was a suggestion that Vit. C was effective against the polio bug. There is another anecdote that magnesium is effective; magnesium is also a chelator. I might come up with a Hub in addition to yours.
corondo fontanilla, It sounds like you are very knowledgeable about treatment for some diseases and I think you should write a hub. Thank you very much for your comments.
You can view this one for dengue fever symptoms and treatments http://www.babatips.com/health-tips/dengue-fever-s
shoaib4d, Thank you for your comments and website.
Tom Whitworth Level 5 Commenter 21 months ago
Pamela,
If we hadn't been led astray by Rachel Carson and still used DDT these mosquito borne diseases wouldn't be a problem.