In 2022, with 378 imported cases of dengue, 23 of chikungunya and six of Zika, the situation was “exceptional” in metropolitan France, underlined a study by Public Health France on Tuesday, which is concerned about the viability of the surveillance system . current. The Aedes albopictus mosquito, also known as the tiger mosquito and implanted in metropolitan France since 2004, has continued to spread throughout the territory.
To limit the risk of transmission of the arboviruses that it can spread (dengue, chikungunya and Zika), since 2006, imported and autochthonous cases have been monitored, recalls the SpF weekly epidemiological bulletin.
Indigenous cases refer to patients who have not traveled to areas where the virus circulates widely, such as the West Indies, but who were bitten by an infected mosquito in contact with an infected traveler.
Autochthonous transmissions have been more intense with a high number of episodes: the number of cases registered for the year 2022 alone is greater than the total number of cases identified during the period 2010-2021 (66 cases compared to 48).
New geographical areas were affected with the appearance of six of the nine episodes in departments where no autochthonous case had previously been identified, in southwestern France and in Corsica.
The monitoring device was “turned on”
Transmission was also earlier, with two cases showing clinical signs in June rather than July for the first cases identified so far.
The surveillance established in mainland France since 2006 has proven to be “effective”, according to SpF, and the “control measures implemented during the identification of cases have so far helped to limit the size of autochthonous transmissions”.
However, “the episodes of 2022 have put the device in tension in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur,” warns the health agency, which considers it “essential to maintain, even strengthen, the participation of the various actors.”
Health professionals should, in particular, “be better informed about the risk of autochthonous transmission” of these diseases.
The population should also “become better aware of the importance of preventive measures against mosquito bites and the fight against breeding sites”, and consult a health professional in case of flu syndrome upon returning from transmission areas.
Source: BFM TV
