According to the latest figures from the National Public Health Agency, 41 autochthonous cases of dengue, divided into five outbreaks, have been registered in mainland France since the beginning of July 2022. A balance that risks being revised upwards. The General Directorate of Health calls for vigilance and insists on the mobilization of all to stop contamination.
This summer, France experienced a massive invasion of the tiger mosquito that is now ravaging 67 metropolitan departments. A proliferation, mainly due to a favorable climate, which worries the health authorities.
In addition to being a proven source of discomfort, theAedes albopictus (scientific name of the tiger mosquito) is also likely to be a vector of various diseases such as dengue, chikungunya or zika. “In this context, the reinforced surveillance is implemented between May and November of each year, which constitutes the period of activity of the vector”, explains the General Directorate of Health (DGS), contacted by the office. Fears that were quickly confirmed, especially in the south of France.
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Dengue: how to explain the record number of cases detected in France since the beginning of 2022?
a record number
According to the latest figures from the National Public Health Agency, 41 autochthonous cases of dengue, divided into five outbreaks, have been registered in mainland France since the beginning of July 2022.
Of the five departments affected by dengue, three are in Occitanie and two are in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. An unprecedented figure that exceeds the accumulated total of the last ten years. As a reminder, in metropolitan France, there were nine localized episodes of dengue or chikungunya transmission between 2010 and 2017.
And the concern is twofold: infections only affect people who have not “traveled to an area where the virus circulates in the 15 days prior to the onset of symptoms” and dengue has broken out in several departments where it had never been detected.
Inform the ARS
An observation that led the DGS, contacted by La Dépêche, to sound the alarm: “In the face of autochthonous dengue outbreaks, which demonstrate the circulation of the virus in the territory, the population must be informed of the risk and the preventive measures to be taken. drink”. put in place”.
As soon as the first symptoms appear (fever and joint pain), the health authority recommends informing the Regional Health Agencies (ARS) through the mandatory notification system. Thus, serological and virological tests are available to diagnose cases.
“The goal is for the ARS to be able to organize vector control actions, in conjunction with mosquito control operators, around the cases: elimination of mosquitoes that are potentially disease vectors, field surveys to identify other cases, etc.” , continues the DGS.
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Autochthonous dengue cases near Toulouse: “We must act quickly to contain the contamination”
general mobilization
But in a context of climatic and environmental changes and the globalization of trade, the balance is likely to progress rapidly. This Wednesday, September 21, a new case was detected in Montauban, in Tarn-et-Garonne. “The authorities, at national and regional level, are fully mobilized to respond to this risk,” tries to reassure the DGS.
Physical measures to eliminate mosquitoes by acting on their breeding sites (elimination of breeding sites), chemical mosquito control processes around cases to limit the risk of contamination, communication and social mobilization… the DGS is on a war footing. On the other hand, “limiting the number of cases of infection remains, however, everyone’s task, individually adopting the appropriate preventive measures,” he wishes to specify.
individual actions
Therefore, the health authority insists on the need to adopt good gestures (limit the breeding grounds of favorable larvae, avoid bites by using mosquito nets or covering the skin, etc.) to curb contamination.
“Patients must be isolated from mosquitoes during their viremia phase, which lasts about ten days,” he recalls. It is advisable to wear clothing that covers and loose, use skin repellent, place mosquito nets in the openings (doors and windows) and use electric diffusers inside the houses.