PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Palm Beach County health officials have confirmed a locally acquired case of dengue fever, prompting a mosquito-borne illness advisory and warnings from health experts for residents to take mosquito prevention seriously.
WATCH BELOW: 'If it happens to bite someone, that someone will likely get the infection,'
Unlike most dengue cases seen in South Florida, the patient did not travel outside the area before getting sick.
"The importance of this announcement is that this is the first case that would happen in someone who has not left Palm Beach County," Dr. Kleper De Almeida, an infectious disease specialist working at several hospitals in Palm Beach County, including Good Samaritan Medical Center, said.
Every year, Florida sees what doctors call "imported cases" of dengue, where travelers become infected overseas and return home carrying the virus. But local transmission means mosquitoes in Palm Beach County are now carrying dengue and spreading it to people in the area.
"What this means is that there are mosquitoes floating around, flying around, carrying the dengue virus," De Almeida said. "If it happens to bite someone, that someone will likely get the infection."
Palm Beach County
Locally-acquired dengue fever case confirmed in Palm Beach County
Palm Beach County Mosquito Control has already been dispatched in response to the confirmed case. Health experts say the situation will likely not turn into a massive outbreak, but they do expect additional infections.
"Usually one of these, having one case is a signal that there are mosquitoes flying around with the dengue virus," De Almeida said. "If infected mosquitoes bite an uninfected person, there is a good chance that the person will catch the infection."
"We'll probably see a few people, and there would not be a huge number, hopefully," De Almeida said.
Symptoms and treatment
Dengue symptoms can be intense and often begin with fever and severe pain.
"The telltale symptom is severe body aches, body and joint aches accompanied by a fever," De Almeida said. "Everything hurts. The lower back hurts, the joints hurt."
Some patients may also develop a rash.
"There is a rash that comes and goes," De Almeida said.
In more severe cases, bleeding complications can develop, including a rash on the skin that does not blanch.
"There are unfortunately no direct treatment," De Almeida said. "One has to wait it out."
Doctors recommend using acetaminophen, like Tylenol, to manage fever and pain instead of medications like ibuprofen or aspirin, which could worsen bleeding complications.
"If using aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen or other anti-inflammatory medications, it might exacerbate these bleeding complications," De Almeida said.
How to reduce mosquito breeding at home
Mosquito experts say one of the best ways to stop the spread starts in your own backyard. Harold Fortes with Mosquito Shield of Palm Beach said standing water is the primary concern.
"What we're gonna do is spray all the vegetation," he said. "You see these pots right here? They hold water. So, what mosquitoes does is they lay eggs in there."
Fortes said standing water can produce mosquitoes in as little as eight days, with some species breeding in as few as four days.
"It's rainy season, big time for them to reproduce," he said.
Residents are being urged to clean gutters, remove yard debris, and empty trays underneath flower pots. Experts also said bromeliad plants should be rinsed regularly, because they naturally collect water that can allow larvae to grow.
Broader mosquito-borne illness threat
De Almeida said dengue is just one of several dangerous illnesses spread by mosquitoes in Florida.
"There is West Nile that causes a brain infection. There is chikungunya that causes severe joint and muscle pains. We remember Zika that happened a number of years ago," De Almeida said.
His message to Palm Beach County residents is simple: avoid mosquito bites whenever possible.
"We need to be more conscious, more attentive to not being bitten by mosquitoes during the summertime in Florida, because we can be acquiring one of these infections," De Almeida said.
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