Toulouse. Health professionals called for vigilance on dengue fever
Health professionals are called to vigilance on the diagnosis of dengue in Toulouse, as in the whole country.
Dengue fever cases are likely to become more frequent with weather conditions, heat and rain, and with people returning from vacation. the Ministry of Health therefore asks health professionals to pay particular attention to its diagnosis as well as that of other diseases transmitted by the tiger mosquito.
“Its activity period coincides with summer travel, and the risk of local circulation of the dengue virus appearing from an imported case is greatest from May to November. For this reason, the tiger mosquito, also a vector of chikungunya and zika, is subject to heightened surveillance during this period”, according to Professor Jérôme Salomon, Director General of Health, in a note intended for health professionals. Dengue is a virus transmitted by the tiger mosquito widespread in 67 departments. But this note is national.
Dengue fever cases imported to Toulouse
Several cases of imported dengue have been detected in Toulouse and Haute-Garonne. This was particularly the case in Pink City itself, at Salvetat-Saint-Gilles or even in Blagnac. Mosquito control operations have been set up in the areas concerned.
“Since July 2022, five episodes of autochthonous dengue transmission have been identified in the PACA and Occitanie regions,” writes the professor. “The occurrence of episodes in departments hitherto spared, such as Pyrénées-Orientales (66), Haute-Garonne (31) and Hautes-Pyrénées (65), as well as their size (in particular that of the grouped cases of Alpes-Maritimes (06) and Var (83)), testify to an increased risk of dengue in mainland France, but also of chikungunya and zika, also transmitted by the tiger mosquito. »
“From May 1 to September 2, 2022, Public Health France counted 139 imported cases of dengue fever. As the disease is often asymptomatic (75%), the total number of imported cases can be doubled,” according to the Director of Health. Since the start of the season, 26 autochthonous cases have been detected, that is to say that these people have not traveled to an area where dengue fever is common, and that they have been contaminated in metropolitan France. These cases correspond to five episodes of transmission including 3 major outbreaks in the PACA and Occitanie regions.