Jerri Goodlin spent five days in the hospital, suffered severe bleeding and lost 17 pounds after contracting dengue fever in September.
The 63-year-old North Port resident believes she contracted the potentially deadly mosquito-borne illness while mowing a neighbor's lawn, where she recalls being attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes. Her symptoms started four days later and became so severe that doctors asked her wife whether she wanted Goodlin resuscitated if her condition deteriorated.
"It's a scary time when they look at your wife and ask, 'Do you want her to be resuscitated if it were to come to that?'" Goodlin said. "It was a scary time for me, and a scary time for my family and friends."
Her case was twice reported to the Florida Department of Health, records shared with Suncoast Searchlight reveal. But according to the agency, Sarasota County has not recorded a single case of dengue fever that was acquired locally this year.
The discrepancy raises questions about how health officials determine where dengue infections originate and whether the state's official numbers accurately reflect the risk of transmission in Sarasota County.
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And it comes as Florida experiences its largest dengue outbreak in decades, with hundreds of infections reported statewide, most of them in nearby Hillsborough County.
Goodlin said she told a health department representative about the mosquito bites she got near her home, which she said had filled with pus. But she also disclosed having attended a wedding in Hillsborough County the previous week, where she did not recall being bitten and had no symptoms in the days afterward. She said the representative told her the department would take care of it and never contacted her again.
Gerald Huard, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County, told Suncoast Searchlight that the county “currently has no active transmission of dengue, and no locally acquired human cases.”
The health department would not say how it determined where Goodlin contracted the disease, citing patient privacy laws.
For Goodlin, the distinction matters. As a hospice nurse, she knows firsthand the importance of keeping vulnerable populations safe and informed. She worries that residents who see no locally acquired cases reported in Sarasota County may underestimate the risk.
“It scares me half to death that they aren't telling people, educating people, getting it out there,” she said. “Even if you don't want to believe it's here, these folks need to be told.”
Aedes mosquitoes cause dengue
The illness is acquired through the female bite of certain species of mosquitoes that are present in the state — Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Dengue fever is common around the world but generally rare in the United States, making the most recent surge in cases unusual.
Eric Caragata, a mosquito-microbe interactions assistant professor at the University of Florida, called the state the “hotspot” for dengue fever in the continental United States due to its warm and wet climate.
Though the surge in Florida is notable, Caragata said Goodlin is in rare company since most cases are asymptomatic.
“It is something that's worth paying attention to, not worth panicking about,” Caragata said. “You want to logically take action to reduce your risk of mosquito bites, and the first step there is protecting yourself and protecting your property.”
Health department did not say how it investigated case
Goodlin thought her experience would be a sobering warning that dengue fever had come to Sarasota County. She instead left the five-minute phone call with the representative from the Florida Department of Health feeling frustrated and worried for her community.
Huard, the health department spokesperson, told Suncoast Searchlight that “dengue is a reportable disease in Florida and as such medical providers are required by law to report potential cases to DOH so they can be investigated and confirmatory testing performed.”
Huard did not elaborate on how Goodlin’s case was investigated once it was reported.
“You may think it's not here because the Department of Health is not showing a case here, but it's here. I have my lab results,” Goodlin said. “I could care less about if they tell you; I want to tell you because you can die from this. If it had been someone who's on blood thinners or something like that, it could kill them.”
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Sarasota County Mosquito Management Services arrived at Goodlin’s home hours after doctors reported the case to the Department of Health, treating their property with sprays and putting pellets in ditch water to kill mosquito larvae. Neighbors were notified of the suspected case of dengue fever.
But after a couple of treatments, Goodlin said she hasn’t seen anyone from the department come back in a few weeks.
Suncoast Searchlight reached out to Sarasota County Mosquito Management Services for comment and received no response at the time of publication.
Caragata, the UF researcher, said the most practical way to avoid contracting dengue fever is to protect yourself from mosquito bites by wearing repellent, long-sleeves and pants. Protecting your property also can go a long way in deterring mosquitoes. He recommended installing screens and dumping any vessels holding water, like trash cans or plant pots, can help prevent mosquito activity.
Dengue fever caused brutal symptoms
Goodlin said she had never been hospitalized in her life. She said it takes a lot for her to take even an aspirin.
But about four days after mowing her neighbor’s lawn, she woke up in the middle of the night with chills, diarrhea and extreme bone pain.
“I thought someone broke into the house and was hitting me with a ball bat, that's how bad that pain was,” she said.
Then came the rash and 102.2-degree fever. Goodlin called her doctor and was brought in for testing. A physician suspected she had either dengue fever or chikungunya, another mosquito-borne illness.
In the following days, her symptoms worsened. Her gums bled when she brushed her teeth, and she suffered from nose and rectal bleeding. When she disclosed this hemorrhaging to her doctor, the tone in the room shifted.
"I don't mean to scare you, but now we're in a crisis," Goodlin recalled her doctor telling her. “We’ve got to get you to a hospital.”
During her five-day hospital stay, Goodlin said she lost a quarter of her blood volume and was thrown into acute colitis, or inflammation of the colon that causes abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea.
When all was said and done, Goodlin lost 17 pounds in four days. She’s only gained back 2 pounds since then and is still working to restore her appetite. She’s also dealing with lingering bone pain, brain fog and a heightened fear of mosquitoes.
“Even with all the stuff that I do and try to keep myself protected, I can still hear them,” Goodlin said of the mosquitoes’ droning buzz. “I got a little bit of PTSD because it makes me nervous to get bit.”
There is no vaccine for dengue
If Goodlin does get bit again, she won’t fare any better.
Caragata said that’s because there are four different serotypes, or strains, of dengue. Once one strain is contracted, the body builds immunity toward it. However, once another strain is contracted in the same body, there’s a higher risk for more severe symptoms.
“Part of the reason why it's been so difficult to treat is finding a vaccine that can avoid that cross-reactivity while still protecting against all of those four dengue serotypes,” Caragata said.
There’s no vaccine for dengue fever available in the United States.
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Goodlin’s fear of catching it a second time has upended her daily routines.
Her evening walks with her wife and dog have been pushed to earlier in the day to avoid prime mosquito activity. Even then, Goodlin said she constantly checks any exposed skin and pats herself down in case anything lands on her.
Goodlin and her wife own a large wooded lot next to their home that she used to spend time in, cleaning it up and watching the squirrels and other critters go about their days.
Now, it’s an area she avoids.
“I don't hang outside like I used to, makes me too nervous right now,” she said. “I'm assuming I'll get over that, but I don't know.”
There was more than just a physical toll on her.
She estimates she lost close to $10,000 from missing work — she needed a full month off to recover — and her medical bills have topped $35,000. She said she is still receiving bills from doctors who treated her during her hospital stay and expects to pay nearly $5,000 out of pocket.
Though her experiences with dengue fever have left her worried, Goodlin said she’s taking it day by day and is appreciative to be able to return to work and spend time with those closest to her.
“Every day is a better day,” she said. “Every day, I'm happy to be above ground and I'm happy to do what I do. It's just going to take a little time.”
Clinton Engelberger is a contributor for Suncoast Searchlight. Email Clinton at clintonengelberger@gmail.com.
This article first appeared on Suncoast Searchlight and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
