Metropolitan France is experiencing, this year, an unprecedented spread of dengue fever, a viral disease transmitted by the tiger mosquito: on October 4, 63 indigenous cases (which do not come from contamination outside the territory) and nine foci of transmission have been recorded in Occitania, Paca region and Corsica. A related situation in part to climate change : the tiger mosquito, which likes humidity, heat and the city, is becoming more and more comfortable in the country. Nearly two thirds of the departments of Metropolitan France were colonized in less than 20 yearsfrom south to north.
Brittany escapes for the moment to an “active” establishment.
Nevertheless, the animal was spotted in four Breton municipalities in 2022, thanks to the surveillance put in place, indicates to the Telegram the Regional Health Agency (ARS)?. These are Brest, Saint-Brieuc, La Gacilly (56) and Domagné (35). “Awareness-raising actions in these municipalities will be carried out in the spring of 2023”, specifies the ARS. In 2021, this animal vector of dengue fever, zika and chikungunya had been flushed out in Rennes, Camors (35)Plomelin (29), Auray (56) and already in Domagne (35). The actions implemented (including 164 nesting traps installed in the region, in 28 municipalities and 13 sites considered to be at risk) would have made it possible to eradicate it in the first four municipalities mentioned.
Five imported cases, without serious form
At the same time, five cases of dengue fever were counted in the region over the period from May 1 to September 30, 2022, confirms Public Health France. None are indigenous.
“All are imported cases, arrived by chance in Brittany: these are people who go on vacation, in areas where the disease is circulating, and who then return to the region”, reassures Bertrand Gagnière, epidemiologist doctor. within the Breton unit of Public Health France.
The five infected Bretons, who did not have serious forms, were returning from stays in Asia, the Caribbean and a country in southern Europe. They live in Finistère, Côtes-d’Armor and Morbihan. Three imported cases of dengue had been detected in 2021, none in 2020.
In the absence of active circulation of the tiger mosquito in Brittany, Public Health France claims to continue its surveillance but in “non-alert” mode. “But we may have to tighten the bolts depending on the analysis of the situation”, assures Bertrand Gagnière.
Brittany “surrounded”
Epidemic outbreaks, certainly on a smaller scale than those experienced in the overseas departments, could soon occur in the South of France, recognize the health authorities. And in Brittany, in the longer term? “I don’t know in what future, but we can’t swear that there will never be any in the region. We are surrounded by departments where the tiger mosquito is present. We can also see that despite the efforts made in the South of France and which have worked well for several years, the weather trend is extremely favorable to the survival of larvae and mosquitoes”, observes Bertrand Gagnière.
Dengue fever, which generates high fevers, can, in rare cases, cause severe hemorrhagic forms. Deaths remain infrequent: approximately 0.01% of all cases. The only existing vaccine, produced by the French laboratory Sanofi, is not recommended for people who have never contracted dengue fever.