The disease spreads through tiger mosquitoes but doctors have yet to learn to recognize it
THE cases of Dengue fever they are increasing rapidly too in Italy. The latest bulletin from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità reports a total of 165 cases concentrated mainly between Lombardy where there are 50 and Lazio where there are 28.
Dengue cases are increasing
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The situation in Lazio for cases of Dengue is starting to be worrying, at Adnkronos Salute Pierluigi Bartoletti, provincial secretary of Fimmg Rome (Italian Federation of General Medicine) reports how family doctors continually receive reports of “suspicious febrile conditions not linked to Covid”. Many have skin rashes that would suggest Dengue and it is essential to do the right test to identify it and understand if these are indigenous cases. The peculiarity of this disease, also called bone-crushing fever for the pain it causes in the bones, is that it is spread by mosquitoes and is not transmitted from human to human. It is mostly imported by a person returning from a holiday in a tropical place and is then spread by the tiger mosquito. Fortunately, in our country there is no Aedes aegyptitypical of tropical regions, which is the type of mosquito most effective at transmitting Dengue.
active outbreaks
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The outbreak currently active largest in Italy it is in Lodi where there are more than 21 cases and which could increase as Marino Faccini of the ATS Milan explained when all the results of the various investigations emerge. The outbreak probably started from a patient who returned from a trip to a tropical area where Dengue is widespread and infected a mosquito. In fact, the tests carried out in the Lodi area highlight that these are subjects who live in neighboring areas as often happens with Dengue outbreaks. Since it is spread by mosquitoes, disinfestation operations are essential both at municipal level and at individual homes, avoiding leaving water to stagnate in saucers.
the symptoms of dengue
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How do you know if you have Dengue? Because it is one little known disease in Italy, family doctors are not always able to recognize it. Patients with Dengue have a high and strange fever, with severe pain and skin rashes, as explained by Massimo Andreoni, scientific director of the Italian Society of Infectious and Tropical Diseases. Normally, a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito, high fever, headache, nausea, vomiting and severe muscle pain appear. In a few cases, between 1 and 5%, breathing difficulties may occur and it can be fatal but it is worth underlining that the mortality rate is 1%. However, if the disease becomes complicated in a haemorrhagic form the percentage rises to 40%. In 75% of cases it passes without causing any symptoms. There is no specific cure and people recover completely within two weeks, there is currently no ready vaccine.
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