Dengue contracted in Saint-Laurent-du-Var: the inhabitants get organized

4 new indigenous dengue cases were detected in the Alpes-Maritimes department, bringing the number of patients to 5. All live in very close areas. A traveler would have brought back this "tropical flu" and tiger mosquitoes would have then transmitted. A first in France.

In nice morningOlivier, a resident of Saint-Laurent-du-Var, says: "Karine, a neighbor is bedridden for a week, she had huge fevers, she is fine, but she is exhausted. It's quite violent, and all cases are within 50 meters around us. "

Dengue can be deadly

The agents of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regional Health Agency have visited him, to explain that the mosquito does not fly very high and does not move too far from its nest. "We are much more vigilant.When the kid is going to play outside, we put him long sleeves.The mosquito nets have been put back in. We empty the saucers. We pay attention," says the father again.

Remember that dengue fever can be deadly. In New Caledonia, a six-month-old girl died in the evening of 19 May in Nouméa due to the deterioration of her general condition. "The infant's parents had taken him to the Koutio Medipole," a government statement said. Despite intensive care, the evolution of the disease was overwhelming. Declared in New Caledonia on February 22, the dengue epidemic had already carried off a 74-year-old woman, with no particular medical history.

"Tropical flu"

Dengue, also called "tropical flu", is a tropical haemorrhagic fever linked to an arbovirus, transmitted by the bite of a female tiger mosquito only. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 50 million annual cases worldwide, including 500,000 cases of dengue "haemorrhagic", that is, which are fatal in more than 2.5% cases. Dengue fever is initially present in tropical and subtropical areas of the world.

The symptoms of dengue occur after 3 to 14 days (on average 4 to 7 days) after the infective bite. Influenza-like illness occurs in infants, young children and adults. There is no specific treatment. While dengue haemorrhagic fever is a life-threatening complication, early clinical diagnosis and rapid clinical management can often save lives.

"If you're infected with measles, you're immune for life," says Henrik Salje, a statistician and epidemiologist in the Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases unit at the Institut Pasteur, "With dengue, it's different. If one is infected with one of the dengue viruses, one is immunized against this virus but not against the other three.And during a second infection, by another form of the virus, the people have more risks of to fall very sick. "