It is unlikely that dengue will become a serious problem in the United States, “as long as people keeping living like they’re living now,” said Thomas W. Scott, a dengue epidemiologist and professor emeritus at University of California, Davis.
Outside Puerto Rico and other territories where the disease is endemic, there are about 550 dengue cases each year in the United States, but they are imported by travelers who were infected abroad and passed the disease along to their close contacts.
The case in Pasadena is a rare locally acquired case of dengue in the United States.
But scientists say dengue will continue to spread to places that haven’t experienced it before.
“But I think the general expectation that this is going to be a growing problem in the United States is reasonable.”
Persons:
”, Thomas W, Scott, Alex Perkins, Dr, Perkins
Organizations:
University of California, University of Notre Dame
Locations:
United States, Davis, Puerto Rico, Pasadena