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On the Balearic island of Ibiza, a cluster of apparently autochthonous denguevirus transmissions occurred between August and October 2022. As the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) with reference to Spanish authorities in its current Epidemiological Bulletin announces, the virus was introduced in the summer of last year by a Spaniard who is believed to be infected with the dengue virus on a trip to Mexico. had.
Two confirmed cases
According to the RKI report, two cases were noticed among German travellers returning from Ibiza who had stayed in the same place on the island: the first patient at the end of August and the second at the beginning of October 2022.According to According to the Spanish authorities, the first case is a 27-year-old woman who was in Ibiza in August 2022 with her partner and 14-month-old daughter. All three people had symptoms on August 31, but a diagnostic test was only performed on the woman. Dengue diagnosis was confirmed by detection of antigen-specific and IgM antibodies.
The second dengue case is a 37-year-old woman who travelled to Ibiza with her partner and 9-year-old son in October 2022 (6 to 13.10). The woman observed symptoms on October 13, the son on October 12 and the man on October 15. In the mother, the dengue diagnosis was made by the detection of IgM antibodies.
Based on a tip from Germany, the Spanish authorities could later have identified the Mexico traveler as a «probable source case for this cluster of at least two autochthonous infections»
Autochthonous transmissions by virus imports
Presumably, Asian tiger mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus) occurring in Ibiza picked up the virus from the Spanish case and then transmitted it locally, according to the RKI.Spain is not a dengue endemic area, but as in other southern European countries, competent mosquito vectors are available with Aedes albopictus for denguevirus transmission, so that in summer and autumn autochthonous transmissions could occur from virus imports by viraemic returnees.
Dengue fever in Ibiza for the first time in 2014
Aedes albopictus is distributed in the Spanish Mediterranean as well as the Balearic Islands and some areas in the interior and north of the country. Dengue was first discovered in Ibiza in 2014 and has since been considered established throughout the island. According to the Spanish authorities, the risk of contracting dengue fever in Ibiza is low. From May to November, however, the Spanish Ministry of Health assesses the dengue risk as «moderate».
The RKI reminds that the risks of arbovirus infections can be reduced by individual mosquito repellent such as mosquito nets or air conditioning, use of repellents and covering clothing.
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Source — https://www.univadis.de/viewarticle/rki-dengue-fieber-bei-deutschen-reiser%25C3%25BCckkehrern-von-2023a10005b4