Haven't heard of any recent cases. I did hear of a few cases about 2 years back, perhaps your aunt was one of them. I think the likelihood of catching it will depend on the amount of rain just prior to her trip since heavy rainfall increases the population of mosquitoes.

People are now starting to move away from DEET, because of the carcinogenic effects, and toward products containing PICARIDIN, such as Cutters.

My mother got Dengue (there are 4 types, thankfully this was not the hemorrhagic one!) when visiting me Dec 2004. (the day after Christmas!)

Scott Hartshorn at Health Care Connections in St. Thomas quickly diagnosed her.

She was miserable; there's not much more to be done other than mild pain relief, anti-nausea pills, and lots of rest and water. Took her about 6 weeks to recover.

My Mom was trepidant about returning to the VI for this reason, but she did come back May 2005. We made sure we had mosquito netting up around her bed, kept standing water away, etc. etc. She used insect repellant every day and was fine.

There were quite a few cases, according to Dr. Hartshorn, but not all of them get reported to the CDC.

Hope your aunt has a good 2nd visit!

Best,

LR

One of the ladies I work with had her 14 year-old daughter die of Dengue last spring. They thought she had the flu and was only diagnosed shortly before her death. This was considered VERY rare and unusual.

But we have had some Dengue on STX and at least this one death.

There wound up being a cluster of cases of Dengue reported on STX last spring/early summer. The first was the one in which the 14 year old girl died. That had the hospital and private doctors more alert to the cases that soon followed. Nearly all of the victims lived within the same neighborhood, suggesting that the mosquitos responsible were from the same source. Quite a few of the victims were ultimately air-lifted to Miami for treatment once diagnosed. Dengue isn't fun for the victims, but is survivable if diagnosed and treated in time.

What I was told by the medical examiner last summer was that the mosquitos that cause Dengue tend to be daytime biters, not dusk biters. That doesn't mean you need to panic if you ever get bit by a mosquito during the middle of the day. However, if you see a lot of mosquito activity in the heat of the day when you would not normally expect to see mosquitos, you might be wise to avoid that area if you can and coat up well with repellant if you can't.

Loyal Reader - Here is what the CDC has to say about it: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/dengue/

*excerpt from page*

Dengue (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are caused by one of four closely related, but antigenically distinct, virus serotypes (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3, and DEN-4), of the genus Flavivirus. Infection with one of these serotypes provides immunity to only that serotype for life, so persons living in a dengue-endemic area can have more than one dengue infection during their lifetime. DF and DHF are primarily diseases of tropical and sub tropical areas, and the four different dengue serotypes are maintained in a cycle that involves humans and the Aedes mosquito. However, Aedes aegypti, a domestic, day-biting mosquito that prefers to feed on humans, is the most common Aedes species.

Here's what the NIH has on it: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/dengue.htm

It is under reported because of the negative effect it may have on tourism. A friend of mine just recovered from it, which he contracted on Tortola. He didn't have the worst type - DEN4 - but was still very sick.

Rumour has it the cases on STX had something to to with old tires with water in them letting the skeeters breed. Rumour, at best.

Several other locals I know have had it at least once - one guy has had it 4 times....yikes!

Definately protect yourself!

Thank you all very much for your responses.

We stayed in Cruz Bay up on Gift Hill the year it happened and the breezes weren't very strong. I think another reason for so much mosquito activity was it had rained almost every night. I'm sure there was lots of standing water for breeding.

We are from Mass and every summer we live with the possibilty of West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis, both mosquito-borne illness.

I think my aunt was just really unlucky back in 2004.

This December, we will be staying beachfront in Coral Bay. Hubby and I stayed in Coral Bay this past Dec and thought the breezes were much stronger than in Cruz Bay. We were eaten by no-sseums but didn't really see many mosquitos at all.

Hopefully, I can talk my aunt in to joining us this year. Mosquitos be damned!