News Release
California Department of Health Services
Number: 05-30
Date: July 7, 2005
For Release: Immediate
Contact: Ken August or Lea Brooks
http://www.dhs.ca.gov
916-440-7660
California Death From Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever Results In State Warning To International Travelers
SACRAMENTO - Dengue hemorrhagic fever, a mosquito-transmitted, acute viral disease, has claimed the life of a 28-year-old Monterey County woman who was exposed to the virus during a recent trip to Mexico, Dr. Howard Backer, interim state public health officer and an expert in travel medicine, announced today. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed she was infected with dengue.
"The death of this young woman in May is a sad reminder that international travelers may be at risk for dengue infection," Backer said. "Cases of dengue are confirmed every year in travelers returning to the United States following visits to tropical and subtropical areas, including some regions of Mexico."
Dengue is transmitted to people by the bite of an Aedes mosquito that is infected with a dengue virus. It cannot be spread directly from person to person. The primary mosquito species that transmits dengue, Aedes aegypti, is not found in California.
CDC also confirmed that the woman's 5-year-old daughter and 26-year-old sister who traveled with her to Mexico was infected with dengue fever, but experienced only mild illness. A 72-year-old man who is an acquaintance of the family and was in the same region of Mexico during the same time period was also confirmed with dengue fever, but has recovered. All are residents of Monterey County.
Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a more severe form of dengue fever. California Department of Health Services (CDHS) officials believe these individuals were infected when they were visiting family in late April and early May in Chacalapa in Guerrero State, Mexico. The woman who died experienced severe body aches, fever and chills on the day of departure from Mexico and died several days later at a hospital in Monterey County.
Travelers to foreign countries should take personal protective measures, such as using insect repellant containing DEET, picaradin or oil of lemon eucalyptus according to label instructions and wearing long-sleeved clothing to reduce mosquito exposure.
Worldwide, an estimated 50 to 100 million cases of dengue fever and several thousand cases of dengue hemorrhagic fever are reported annually in tropical and subtropical countries. The incidence of dengue hemorrhagic fever has increased dramatically in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific in the past 20 years. It is also an emerging disease in Latin America and the Caribbean. Limited outbreaks of dengue fever have occurred in the continental United States in south Texas in 1995 and 1999 and in Hawaii in 2001.
In California, two imported cases of dengue fever were reported in 2004, six in 2003 and two in 2002.
Infections with dengue virus are generally characterized by fever, severe headache, and muscle, joint and bone pain. Some individuals experience shock, severe bleeding and sometimes death. Severe dengue infections are most often seen in individuals who have experienced a previous infection with the virus. CDHS officials believe that the woman who died was initially infected with dengue while growing up in Mexico.
"Although the risk of serious illness to most individuals is low, travelers to endemic and epidemic areas should take precautions to avoid mosquito bites," Backer said.
For additional information about protection from mosquito bites while traveling outside the United States, see the CDC traveler's health Web site at www.cdc.gov/travel
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