Resorts are also affected
Italy is struggling with the double burden of dengue
von Andrea Afadicati, Mailland
June 23, 2024, 9:06 am
The holiday season is upon us. But now the incidence of dengue fever is increasing in Italy. Many people become infected abroad and bring the disease with them. However, cases caused by tiger mosquitoes are also increasing in Italy. Virologist Bregliasco explains whether it’s still safe to travel to Italy.
Different neighborhoods in Trieste, Italy, have had to be disinfected five times this year due to dengue fever. The last time – at least so far – was the night between June 9 and 10. Residents of the outer streets of Vicolo Salvia and Via Savi were informed that their streets and a radius of 200 meters would be disinfected between 4am and 10am. During this time, windows and doors should be closed, air conditioning should be turned off and pets should not be allowed outside.
There is great concern in Italy: will tropical disease soon be no exception? Last year, several dengue cases around Lake Garda attracted attention. Tourists wonder if a holiday in Italy is more dangerous than anywhere else in Europe at this time.
“Absolutely not,” Fabrizio Enrico Bregliasco tells ntv.de. He is a virologist and professor at the University of Milan. “Cases of dengue fever have been reported across Europe, including Germany, Austria and France, to name a few examples. Most of these are travelers who have been infected on other continents.” In addition, the infection is not transmitted directly from person to person, “it should be called a vector. In this case it is a different type of mosquito.” It was not just the tiger mosquito that was “imported” to Europe in the 1990s.
Climate change also means new diseases
Depending on how it progresses, an infection with dengue fever can resemble a more or less severe flu. But the real problem is different. “85 percent of infections are asymptomatic,” explains Bregliasco. It sounds positive, but it doesn’t have to be. Because even if you have already been infected once, you are not immune. Conversely: A second infection can be more complicated. The most severe form, also known as dengue hemorrhagic fever, can cause severe bleeding and even death in extreme cases.
Along with ever-growing travel activities and global commodity trade, climate change also plays a major role in the spread of the pandemic. Nowadays, this means not only prolonged droughts followed by heavy rains and devastating storms, but also new diseases such as the tropical disease dengue fever.
Italy is currently facing three problems with dengue. “The rapidly increasing number of infections in Brazil and Argentina is worrying our health authorities,” says Bregliasco, as most infections affect people infected abroad. The Brazilian Ministry of Health recently reported that the number of victims this year has already exceeded five million. Compared to 2023, there are five times more cases. “The authorities there do not seem to have been successful in controlling the proliferation of vector mosquitoes or in combating them,” says the virologist.
Districts locked down and alert levels
A total of 362 dengue cases were reported in Italy in 2023, according to a recent report by the Italian Health Agency. Since the beginning of this year till June 13, 259 people have been affected. In early April, the Italian newspaper “Quotidiano Nazionale” published a map with the geographical distribution of 117 infections at the time. The Veneto region topped the list with 24, followed by the Lazio region, which includes the capital Rome, at 23, Lombardy at 21, Tuscany at 13 and Emilia Romagna at 12.
Italy’s second problem is indigenous dengue infections, where most people are infected abroad, but the number of people who get sick from tiger mosquito bites in their own country is also increasing. Last year there were a total of 362 cases, 82. It is not yet known how many cases there are this year.
Mainly to avoid spreading the country, complete disinfection is carried out and entire districts are cordoned off for a few hours, as in Trieste. “The incubation period of the infection is 14 days,” explains Bregliasco. “That means a sick person has to remember where they’ve been in the last 14 days. After that, a 200-meter radius is disinfected.”
The third problem, or third challenge, concerns one of the infection vectors facing Italian health authorities. We are talking about the Egyptian tiger mosquito (Aedes Egypt), “It’s more effective than our tiger mosquito,” says the virologist. It should prevent it from reaching Europe. Therefore, Italy has declared an alert level for flights and ships arriving from affected areas. In addition, the vessel must be thoroughly disinfected.
“A vacation in Italy is as safe as anywhere else,” assures Bregliasco, although the spread of dengue fever should not be underestimated and the development of local infections should be monitored particularly closely. If you want to find more information before you travel, you can find accurate information European Center for Disease Prevention and Control website (ECDC).
