United States: This is the first potentially locally acquired case of dengue in the history of the San Diego County, health officials say, as the tropical disease has recently re-emerged in the United States.
A chronic epidemic of a viral disease in much of South America — which some people refer to as dengue fever — is responsible for a local surge in the number of San Diego County residents who have contracted dengue while traveling.
But I think local transmission is more of a worry because it is more likely that a local mosquito had bitten an infected individual and then transferred that infection to the second person in that region.
As reported by The Mercury News, there is typically a local chain of transmission that often dies down on its own if more and more mosquitoes feed on an individual with the infection. Local health departments try as much as possible to break any potential link of transmission for a variety of reasons.
To that end, the county’s Vector Control Program started the hand spraying of mosquito-killing insecticide on Friday and over the weekend to cover a about 60-acre area near Orange Glen High School in east Escondido, where around 170 homes are said to be situated in the neighborhood of the infected person. From Monday, crews will spray insecticide from trucks within a larger circular area to the outer ring.
Spraying is expected to go on until Thursday. Such drives have recently taken place in the s southern California city of Oceanside and the Mount Hope area of San Diego after travelers she been infected with the virus.
Comparable actions were taken in 2016 in order to prevent Zika virus from establishing itself in a local mosquito population.
Interim county public health officer Dr Ankita Kadakia stated on Sunday that she anticipates the additional risk of the virus spreading is low.
The first local dengue case in San Diego, which was reported Tuesday, was considered serious enough for the patient to be hospitalized, officials said.
The patient has now recovered enough to convalesce at home, and they did not say if the patient was male or female.
Symptoms of the dengue infection generally appear four to seven days after a mosquito bite and include fever, chills, aches and pains nausea, vomiting and rash and most of the people recover without the significant medical consequences however, some who suffer severe cases can experience deadly symptoms such as shock and respiratory distress.