5 questions on this illness which is gaining floor in mainland France

Is dengue fever taking maintain in mainland France? This illness, which often rages in Reunion, Mayotte or Guadeloupe, has declared itself because the starting of the yr 2022 in 26 folks in mainland France. They haven’t been in touch with the virus circulation areas. They’ve been recognized within the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and Occitanie areas. That is greater than in previous years, when round ten circumstances per yr have been recorded, in essentially the most vital years.

The Directorate Basic of Well being (DGS) launched the alert on Wednesday September 14, 2022, emphasizing prevention. The best way to shield towards this pathology?

Learn additionally: Chikungunya, Zika, dengue… These tropical illnesses arrive in France due to mosquitoes

1. How is the illness transmitted?

Dengue fever is an infectious illness that’s transmitted from individual to individual by way of the chew of an contaminated mosquito. Temples of the Egyptians and Aedes albopictus (referred to as tiger mosquito), very current within the south of the nation.

Tiger mosquito bites happen primarily throughout the day, “with a peak of aggression at daybreak and nightfall”specifies Public Well being France (SpF). “These mosquitoes develop primarily in city areas and transfer little throughout their life”remembers SpF.

Females want stagnant water to put their eggs: vases, saucers, used tires, badly emptied gutters, numerous waste containing stagnant water, but additionally tree hollows, sure crops more likely to kind water retention (bamboo, and so on.).

In mainland France, the tiger mosquito is at present completely established in 67 departments, remembers the DGS.

2. What are the signs of dengue fever?

Signs are most frequently flu-like (fever, headache, physique aches) and seem inside 3 to 14 days after the mosquito chew. The illness will also be asymptomatic, in 50 to 90% of circumstances. Most frequently gentle, dengue fever can nevertheless develop into sophisticated and develop into extreme and hemorrhagic, in 1 to five% of circumstances, relying on the epidemics.

3. What’s the therapy for this illness?

There isn’t a particular therapy for dengue fever. The affected person could merely be provided to deal with their signs, together with ache and fever.

There’s a vaccine towards dengue fever, Dengvaxia, however it is just indicated for folks aged 9 to 45 residing in areas the place the virus often circulates. This vaccine acquired two unfavorable opinions from the Excessive Authority for Well being (HAS) in 2018 and 2019, as a result of it may trigger extreme types of dengue within the occasion of contamination subsequent to the injection, in individuals who have by no means had the dengue.

4. The best way to shield towards it?

Prevention is subsequently primarily based on particular person means: storing something that will comprise water sheltered from the rain, sporting loose-fitting and overlaying clothes, utilizing a pores and skin repellent, and even, if mandatory, putting in mosquito nets. on openings (doorways and home windows).

On the identical time, mosquito management operations are put in place by the regional well being authorities as quickly as an imported case or a local case is reported, he assures us.

“The prevention of bites and the struggle towards the proliferation of mosquitoes are important to restrict the incidence of epidemic foci”insists the Ministry of Well being. In case of signs suggestive of dengue, it is suggested to right away seek the advice of your physician.

5. Why does the illness proceed to unfold?

Dengue has lengthy been confined to Southeast Asia. In the present day, it continues to broaden and unfold to new areas, together with Europe. Explosive epidemic outbreaks are additionally noticed, notes the WHO.

In 2010, 86,000 circumstances of dengue fever have been identified in Martinique and Guadeloupe, remembers the Pasteur Institute.

A number of elements contribute to the unfold of the illness. On the one hand, the urbanization “particularly when it’s unplanned”, warns the WHO. This issue performs “a job within the transmission of dengue fever, relying on a number of social and environmental elements: inhabitants density, human mobility, entry to dependable water sources, water storage practices, and so on. ».

The evolution of the local weather can also be in query: “The dangers of dengue can evolve with local weather change in tropical and subtropical zones”enhances the WHO.

In mainland France, the tiger mosquito has tailored due to its resistance to low temperatures and its capacity to hibernate.