The Dengue outbreak expands and reaches Tuscany: “More than the flu”
After the huge outbreak in the Marche, where more than 100 cases were recorded, Dengue also arrived in Tuscany, where, in Sesto Fiorentino, in the province of Florence, there were three cases of people testing positive for the virus.
Meanwhile, some testimonies are also arriving from those who have contracted Dengue: “It’s more than just the flu – a person tells us Adriatic Courier – I was very ill, high fever and vomiting, abnormal blood values, pain in the eyes and head, incredible tiredness, four days spent in the emergency room in Fano and another ten at home.”
While the virologist Roberto Burioni comments sarcastically on social media: “Don’t worry, in Fano the situation is under control, it’s Burioni who exaggerates”, the epidemiologist Pier Luigi Lopalco raises the alarm: “The vastness of the Dengue outbreak in the Marche does not bode well . What happened to the Tuscan family may have already happened to many others who moved to other provinces and gave rise to local outbreaks.”
Interviewed byAdnkronos Healththe expert adds: “Many cases of Dengue, in fact, are not diagnosed because they are asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms. This allows the virus to spread undisturbed before being detected. It is extremely urgent to strengthen anti-mosquito measures.”
The epidemiologist Massimo Ciccozzi was even tougher who, always at theAdnkronosdeclared: “Covid has taught us nothing in terms of prevention, now we start chasing Dengue in half of Italy, from Fano to Tuscany. It is clear that the disinfestations started late, this year the September rains caused the masses of tiger mosquitoes to move away and they found it more difficult in July and August with little rain. I understand the difficulties of individual municipalities but there is too much underestimation and little information on Dengue”.
“More than fifty percent of cases are asymptomatic, those with symptoms have an incubation period of up to 14 days. It is therefore very difficult to intercept infections because the times are prolonged but if disinfestation is not carried out and the population is not warned about the use of repellents and to help avoid water stagnation in private gardens and terraces, it will be difficult to steps forward and so the small outbreaks will increase until the temperatures are ‘pleasant’ for the tiger mosquito” adds Ciccozzi.
A position also shared by Matteo Bassetti who adds: “Dengue is now not just a problem in Fano, but we also have cases in Tuscany. Let’s hope the situation doesn’t get worse, the temperatures that should drop will help us. There has been an underestimation of the Dengue problem at a local level and this is the result.”
“We must do more, we have many asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic people who, however, can replicate the virus and if bitten by a tiger mosquito it becomes a vector of the virus and if it bites another person it infects him. If disinfestation isn’t done well we won’t get out of it. Perhaps we need a comprehensive screening program in the areas affected by indigenous dengue outbreaks, to find out whether or not the population has come into contact with dengue and inform them on what they should do and also offer a prophylaxis programme. But the fight against Dengue must return to the center of the country’s agenda” concludes the expert.
#Dengue #outbreak #expands #reaches #Tuscany #flu #urgent #measures #needed