Dengue Fever in Hawaii, Zika Travel Alert

She was diagnosed with Dengue (pronounced Deng-Gee) Fever, and sure enough, a little online investigation confirmed a localized Dengue outbreak on the big island of Hawaii.

But wait, Hawaii? The safe, tropical paradise? Where people go to “get away from it all”?

As it turns out, a warm tropical climate that attracts tourists also makes a perfect habitat for the mosquito. And nature has designed that whiny little bloodsucker as the perfect vector (the biological term for a carrier of infection from one host to another, not the annoying villain in Despicable Me).

The Caribbean or the South Pacific can still conjure up idyllic images, but these tropical paradises are at the center of a new epidemic of closely related mosquito-borne diseases. Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika Fever (more about those two later) are rapidly emerging throughout popular tourist destinations in tropical regions around the world.

Dengue is the Granddaddy of this family of viral illnesses that is transmitted by the Aedes mosquito. It causes high fever, severe muscle and joint pain, and can potentially cause life threatening hemorrhagic fever. It is now the most common viral disease spread to humans by mosquitos. More than half of the world's population (4 billion people) lives in areas affected by Dengue. Unlike the mainly nocturnal mosquito that spreads malaria, the mosquito that carries Dengue bites mostly during the day and typically lives in urban centers, breeding in man-made containers.

The bad news is that there is no vaccine currently available to prevent Dengue and no medication to treat it. The good news is that you can't get Dengue unless you are bitten by an infected mosquito. So, once again, Prevention is the key. Click here to read our previous blog for strategies to prevent mosquito bites. And don't forget to protect your children with proper clothing and insect repellent. Be sure to check with your local travel clinic to see if your dream destination is in a Dengue endemic area.

My patient recovered and ended up OK, but not before suffering through a painful, frightening, and ultimately preventable illness. As of Jan 7, 2016, 210 people have become ill as a result of the outbreak.

Stay tuned next week to find out about Dengue's up and coming cousins; Chikungunya and Zika Fever.

TravelBug wishes all of you a great New Year and lots of adventures in 2016! Go Explore, and travel safe.

TravelBug Health
8757 E. Bell Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
Norman Bizon, nbizon@travelbughealth.com
Website: travelbughealth.com

CDC Issues Zika Travel Alert (Jan. 15, 2016)

The CDC warns that pregnant women in any trimester should consider postponing travel to 14 countries and territories in Central and South America and the Caribbean where mosquitoes are spreading the Zika virus. The 14 countries and territories covered by the travel alert are Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Suriname, and Venezuela.