the “bone-breaking fever” is also spreading in Europa-breaking latest news

With climate change, more and more areas of Europe are becoming vulnerable to Dengue disease, an infectious disease transmitted by bites of Zanzara Aedes and also note how bone-breaking fever
for the intense pain it causes. To confirm its diffusion in hitherto virgin areas of the globe is the case of one British woman infected in September 2022 in Nicein the south of France, during a holiday.

The clinical history of the English tourist

The 44-year-old woman had fever, headache behind the eyes, muscle aches it’s a’erythematous rash widespread and blanching (which can occur with a number of infections). The British tourist had returned to the UK the day before her symptoms started and she had not traveled anywhere other than the French Riviera. Other family members also experienced the same symptoms, albeit milder. The doctors in the emergency room where the woman presented, suspicious of the unusual symptoms, urgently sent a sample of the patient’s blood to the Rare Imported Pathogens Laboratory (Ripl) in the United Kingdom and from there the confirmation of an acute virus infection arrived of dengue.

In France already three outbreaks of indigenous transmission in 2022

Doctors from the UK will present the case study at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (Eccmid 2023, scheduled in Copenhagen from Saturday 15 April to Tuesday 18). The woman did not require medical attention and was monitored on an outpatient basis. This patient – explains the author of the report, Owain Donnelly of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London – one of the patients of an outbreak of more than 30 locally transmitted cases in southern France in 2022, which highlights the rapid evolution of dengue epidemiology. Surveillance and reporting mechanisms are important to ensure an accurate understanding of the spread of the virus. Between June and September 2022, the Agence Regionale de Sant (Ars) in France reported three separate outbreaks Of indigenous transmission of the Dengue virus, i.e. infections contracted on the national territory without the patients having gone abroad.

The crux of climate change

With climate change, particularly due to warmer temperatures and more rainfall, as well as increased global trade and tourism, we could see more parts of Europe with the right mix of factors for epidemics, the report authors warn. of dengue. The sub-tropical climate breeding ground for Aedes mosquitoes who transmit the virus. Virus that could spread around the world given the global climate change that is affecting the entire globe. Many scientists are convinced that Dengue outbreaks will become more frequent in the coming years due to extreme weather conditions with frequent showers and humid weather.

How Dengue is transmitted

Dengue is an infectious disease caused by four variants of the same virus that is transmitted through the mosquito bites who in turn stung an infected person. The most effective mosquito in transmission is the Aedes aegypti, typical of tropical regions (it does not exist in Italy) but also the tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) already reported throughout southern Europe can contribute to the infection, albeit less effectively. Unfortunately, having contracted dengue only protects the person against the virus that caused it but not against the other three viral types. There is no direct contagion between humansalthough man is the main host of the virus.

Symptoms

At a distance of less than a week after the puncture symptoms may appear: high fever, severe headache, body aches, sharp headaches, nausea, vomiting. In extreme cases (1-5%) breathing difficulties and multiple organ failure, in some cases fatal, can occur. Dengue has a very low mortality rate, around 1% of cases, which rises to 40% when the disease complicates into the hemorrhagic form. In about 75% of cases the disease is asymptomatic and goes unnoticed. This happens at least with the first infection, while a second infection can trigger heavy immune reactions that can lead to bleeding. There are no cures but only a vaccine that seems effective only in those who have already had a previous infection, while it would lead to an increased risk of serious illness in those who have never contracted the virus. Other vaccines are being studied.

The alarm of the World Health Organization

Just a few days ago the World Health Organization raised an alarm reporting a drastic increase in outbreaks caused by arboviruses come Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya. Circa half of the world’s population now at risk of dengue, with an estimated 100-400 million infections occurring each year the picture drawn by WHO. All populations in areas where mosquito vectors are present are at risk, WHO warns, “but the greatest impact among the most vulnerable people, for whom arboviral disease programs do not have sufficient resources to respond to outbreaks. This is why the WHO – reads a note – last year launched the Global Arbovirus Initiative which aims to address emerging and re-emerging arboviruses with epidemic and pandemic potential, focusing on risk monitoring, pandemic prevention, preparedness, detection and response, and partner coalition building.

The situation in Italy

In Italy dozens of cases of Dengue are reported every year, but in general these are infections contracted abroad: they affect travelers returning from Latin America, South East Asia and Africa, where this endemic infection (but not even United States, especially the southern states). In the latest report by Epicenter referring to 2022 there are 114 confirmed cases of Dengue in Italy (all associated with travel abroad and no deaths. It is true that the virus generally transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which does not exist in Italy (in Europe it is present only on the island of Madeira and in an area of ​​the Black Sea). But, exceptionally, as probably happened in France, it could also be carried by another vector, its “cousin”, the Aedes albopictus (better known as “tiger mosquito”), even in our country.