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Dengue fever: five minutes to understand the particularly high number of cases this year

2022-09-16T11:12:50.240Z


Public Health France has so far identified 41 autochthonous cases of dengue fever in metropolitan France, i.e. people who have not traveled


They poisoned the summer of part of the French.

Mosquitoes can even transmit many diseases, including dengue fever.

41 indigenous cases, that is to say people who "had not traveled to the virus circulation zone in the 15 days preceding the onset of symptoms", defines the Ministry of Health, were identified on 16 september.

This is much more than previous years (9 in 2019, maximum of 14 in 2020, 2 in 2021, etc.).

We take stock.

What is dengue fever?

It is a viral disease that is caught by the bite of an infected mosquito, in this case the tiger mosquito, so named because of its white and black stripes which make it recognizable.

The tiger mosquito (or

Aedes albopictus)

, implanted in 67 departments this year against 51 in 2018, can also cause other diseases, such as chikungunya or zika.

At least one in two people with dengue has symptoms, says Public Health France.

The disease is most often manifested by fever and joint pain but “its complications can be severe”.

It is not transmitted directly from human to human but via the mosquito.

By biting an infected person, the latter can take the virus from the blood before transmitting it to another human being.

Aedes albopictus

is most active in the summer, and the mixing of the population with the summer holidays increases the risk that an infected person will spread the disease.

What is the latest report?

Every year, Public Health France closely monitors the number of dengue fever cases from May 1.

The disease is said to be notifiable, that is to say that each health professional must report to the authorities any infected person that he identifies.

As of September 16, 165 imported cases and above all 41 indigenous cases have been identified in mainland France.

These 41 indigenous cases were necessarily infected on mainland France, in this case in Occitania and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

26 of them form the same focus of infections around several neighboring municipalities in the Alpes-Maritimes.

The Regional Health Agency conducts door-to-door surveys and mosquito control operations are carried out.

But “other cases will probably be identified”, anticipates Public Health France, while this assessment is already much heavier than in previous years.

How to explain this increase?

First of all, the tiger mosquito is implanted in a growing number of municipalities year after year.

However, once it is present somewhere, it is almost impossible to dislodge it.

"The expansion of the tiger mosquito throughout the territory is inevitable, it is illusory to hope to go back," says Yannick Simonin, lecturer in virology and specialist in arboviruses (viruses transmitted to humans by insects ).

The Ministry of Health lists several other factors, including "the current climatic conditions favorable to the multiplication of mosquitoes with heat and rain".

The summer season was marked by three strong heat waves, while it rained a lot during the first half of September (especially in the south of the country).

"Hot temperatures, precipitation, floods, but also droughts favor the proliferation of the tiger mosquito", insists Marie-Claire Paty, member of the Infectious Diseases Department of Public Health France.

Read alsoHauts-de-Seine: night operation against tiger mosquitoes after a case of dengue fever

In addition, "the marked recovery in air traffic after the Covid period favors the entry into our territory of imported cases of dengue fever, which can subsequently be the cause of indigenous outbreaks of the disease in France", indicates Yannick Simonin .

Are there any grounds for concern?

41 cases may still seem like very little.

But "it's very far from being trivial", insists Yannick Simonin, recalling that "there are very probably many unidentified cases".

And “the foreseeable evolution is an extension and multiplication of these episodes of infections”, warns Marie-Claire Paty.

Public Health France therefore considers it necessary to anticipate this “threat” for the future.

The Ministry of Health recommends "wearing covering and loose clothing, using a skin repellent, installing mosquito nets on openings (doors and windows) and using electric diffusers inside homes" .

In addition to these preventive measures, the fight against breeding sites must also be a priority.

And Yannick Simonin concludes: “We will have to learn to live with the tiger mosquito and with the viruses that it can potentially transmit.

»

Source: leparis

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