It’s always a good idea to check for diseases before you travel. Case in point: there have been two confirmed cases of locally transmitted Dengue Fever in Florida this summer, and officials expect more.
Florida is tropical—it has the right climate to host the mosquitoes that carry Dengue, Zika, Yellow Fever, and Chikungunya (Chik-V). When someone travels between Florida and other tropical regions, they can bring an infected mosquito back or they can bring the infection back for local mosquitoes. So far this year, there have been 75 confirmed cases of Dengue in Florida acquired from abroad.
It’s predicted that the region within the US these mosquitoes can live in will continue to gradually expand through the south over the next few decades.
Symptoms of Dengue Fever include severe pain, fever, headache, and other complications. There is no specific treatment or prevention, just avoid mosquitoes and areas with outbreaks and treat an infection with rest and care.
The good news is you get lifelong immunity to tropical mosquito diseases. The bad news is that immunity messes with your response to the rest of this family of illnesses, making a second infection more severe. Make sure to repel mosquitoes with spray or natural scents, block them with long thin clothing, and keep your bedroom air-conditioned (Aedes aegypti like living under beds).
You can also prepare yourself with immune-supporting colloidal silver. Colloidal silver is an essential travel companion. Getting on a plane, drinking different water, and eating different food prepared with that water (on top of whatever local disease risks there are like Dengue) and the shift in time/stress of putting together a trip all can be hard on your immune system. Make sure you have immune support wherever you go with colloidal silver.
