The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico reportedly proclaimed a state of public health emergency Monday over the disturbing rise of dengue fever cases
The U.S. territory has witnessed 549 documented cases of the disease in 2024 so far, according to ABC News’s translation of the Puerto Rico Department of Health’s (PRDH) press release written in Spanish. (RELATED: Former Puerto Rican Mayor Receives 5-Year Sentence For Bribery: DOJ)
The PRDH has reported a 140 percent spike in infections between Jan. 1 and March 21 when compared to that time period in 2023, ABC News’s English translation read. Health officials also reported a plurality of infections detected in the capital city of San Juan in the press release, the outlet reported.
“The increase in dengue cases requires that all components of society join forces in order to prevent the contagion and spread of this virus, which is why we call for prevention,” Dr. Carlos Mellado López, Puerto Rico’s Secretary of the Department of Health, tweeted in Spanish.
El aumento de casos de dengue requiere que todos los componentes de la sociedad aúnen esfuerzos en aras de prevenir el contagio y la propagación de este virus, por eso hacemos el llamado a la prevención. pic.twitter.com/ugMtJrDG6D
— Carlos Mellado López (@prsecsalud) March 26, 2024
“It is important to note that the increase in cases has not only been reflected in Puerto Rico, but we have seen it throughout the region of the Americas,” Dr. López stated in the translated press release, according to ABC News.
Dengue fever is an illness carried by mosquitoes that can result in high fever and flu-like symptoms as well as serious bleeding, a sudden decrease in blood pressure and even death, according to the Mayo Clinic. Death due to Dengue fever is rare, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fewer than 1% of Dengue fever patients in the U.S. died in the years 2010 to 2018, as well as 2019. None died from 2020 to 2021. The illness is easily spread in tropical and subtropical environments, the Mayo Clinic said.