TAMPA, FL — After an epidemiological investigation, health officials confirmed on Friday the first dengue fever-related death in Hillsborough County, Claire Maher, public information officer for the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County, told Patch.
"... to respect the privacy of the family during this difficult time, the Department will not be providing further identifying information," she said.
It's the first dengue death in the Tampa Bay area in nearly a century, reports said.
Earlier this month, the family of 80-year-old Gay Small publicly shared that the Tampa woman had died from dengue fever while hospitalized at Tampa General Hospital on her birthday.
Her case was locally acquired, her daughter, Anna Smalls, 55, told the Tampa Bay Times.
"She hasn't traveled. She doesn't drive. She hadn't left the city limits in more than a month," Anna said.
More than 300 people in Florida have contracted the disease this year, according to the Florida Department of Health's Florida Arbovirus Surveillance report for Sept. 6-12. The report is updated every Thursday.
One hundred and fifty-two cases of locally acquired dengue have been recorded since Jan. 1, 134 of them in Hillsborough, the report said.
There have also been seven cases in Miami-Dade County, seven cases in Pinellas County, two cases in Pasco County, and one case each in Orange and Palm Beach counties.
The first locally acquired dengue case this year, reported in Hillsborough, was recorded in the July 19-25 report.
Health department data also show that there have been 186 travel-associated dengue cases recorded in the state since the start of the year.
The report doesn't break down which county recorded these travel-associated cases. Rather, the data lists the country of exposure.
According to the report, people who traveled to Cuba accounted for 148 of the travel-associated dengue cases.
"Residents throughout the state should take precautions from mosquito-borne illnesses by appropriately applying insect repellent, avoiding areas with high mosquito populations, and wearing long pants and shirts when possible — especially during sunrise and sunset when mosquitoes are most active," Maher told Patch in a previous email.
Those experiencing dengue symptoms should contact their health care provider or local county health department, she added.
Dengue can present as a flu-like illness with the following symptoms, health officials said:
There are no respiratory symptoms associated with dengue.
Symptoms usually appear within 15 days of being bitten by an infected mosquito, health officials said.
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