A British woman has been infected with dengue fever while on holiday in France, as experts warn the tropical disease is becoming more prevalent in parts of Europe because of climate change.
The 44-year-old woman became infected while on holiday in Nice in September 2022. She had not visited any other countries.
Dengue fever is spread by the bite of mosquitoes infected with the dengue virus, typically in tropical regions in Asia, South America, and Asia.
It’s not typically a serious illness and often clears up on its own. Some people can contract severe dengue or dengue haemorrhagic fever, but this is relatively rare, impacting between 1 and 5 per cent of patients.
After her return to the UK, the patient required emergency health treatment. The UK’s Rare Imported Pathogens Laboratory (RIPL) was able to give her a diagnosis after doctors sent an urgent sample for analysis.
Her symptoms included fever, headaches, muscle pains and a rash, all of which began the day after she returned from France. These lasted for three days, but she did not require further medical treatment.
The family members she stayed with also experienced similar symptoms, with researchers confirming that the infected patient was “part of an outbreak of over 30 locally transmitted cases” in southern France in 2022.
Between June and September 2022, the Agence Regionale de Santé (ARS) reported three separate outbreaks of dengue virus transmission. These cases were identified in France in patients who had not travelled abroad.
However, one specialist from the world-famous Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London has warned that climate change could be responsible for increasing outbreaks in parts of Europe.
“This individual was part of an outbreak of over 30 locally transmitted cases in the south of France in 2022, which highlights the rapidly changing epidemiology of dengue”, said Dr Owain Donnelly.
“With climate change, particularly hotter temperatures and more rainfall, and increasing global trade and tourism, we may see more parts of Europe with the right combination of factors for dengue outbreaks.
“Surveillance and reporting mechanisms are important in ensuring we have an accurate understanding of dengue spread.”
Dengue is often found in tropical areas, including parts of Africa and Asia, Central and South America, the Caribbean, the Pacific Islands and some southern areas in North America.
However, the risk of contracting it increases in parts of southern Europe between spring and November and has previously been detected in Croatia, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Madeira.
The Asian tiger mosquito has also become more common across the region due to the impact of climate change, in particular warmer temperatures and higher levels of rainfall.
Importantly, dengue cannot be transmitted from one person to another, and the infection is not found in the UK.
