Dengue Outbreaks in 2023 Include South Florida

With the increase in dengue cases in Central America and the Caribbean and the start of the summer season in the Southern Hemisphere, the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) recently announced South American countries should prepare for dengue outbreaks.

As of September 2023, the PAHO/WHO assessed the risk of dengue outbreaks as high at the regional level due to the widespread distribution of the Aedes spp. mosquitoes.

Dengue is the arbovirus with the highest number of cases reported in the Region of the Americas in 2019, with more than 3.1 million cases, including 28,203 severe cases and 1,823 deaths.

In 2023, as of week #35, there were 3,407,921 dengue cases reported, and 4,759 (0.14%) were classified as severe dengue.

The highest number of dengue cases were reported in Brazil, with 2,569,746 cases, followed by Peru and Bolivia.

Even Costa Rica has reported over 10,000 dengue cases in 2023, about 20% more than last year. As of August 2023, all four dengue serotypes have been confirmed in Costa Rica.

In the United States, provisional data published by the CDC indicates 44 jurisdictions have reported about 880 dengue cases in 2023. 

Most of these dengue cases have been reported in Florida.

As of September 2023, the Florida Health Department reported 299 travel-associated dengue cases (Miami-Dade) and 23 locally acquired dengue cases confirmed in 2023. Both Miami-Dade and Broward Counties remain under a mosquito-borne illness alert.

In addition, the CDC says dengue is endemic in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.

Dengue is a vaccine-preventable disease, with two approved vaccines available in certain countries and several vaccine candidates conducting clinical trials. These vaccine development studies are seeking participants in 2023.