L’épidémie de chikungunya
- Thread starter JEK
- Start date
JEK
Senior Insider
Invaded another country
Newly arrived virus spreads in Dominican Republic
Wednesday - 4/30/2014, 1:26pm ET
Health officials in the Dominican Republic said this Tuesday April 29, 1014, that the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus has spread widely since making its first appearance in the country. According to the Centers for Disease Control the chikungunya virus is most often spread to people by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. These are the same mosquitoes that transmit dengue virus. They bite mostly during the daytime. (AP Photo/USDA, File)
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) -- Health officials in the Dominican Republic say a mosquito-borne virus has spread widely since making its first appearance in the country.
The Health Ministry says it has documented about 3,500 suspected cases of chikungunya virus since it was first detected in March. Most cases have been near the capital, but Health Minister Freddy Hidalgo said Tuesday there have been some isolated cases in northern provinces.
Hidalgo spoke at the start of a two-day conference attended by representatives from Central American countries.
The virus is most commonly found in Asia and Africa. It was first detected in the Caribbean in December in French St. Martin and has spread to nearby islands.
Chikungunya is rarely fatal but it can cause high fever and intense joint and muscle pain. There is no vaccine.
Newly arrived virus spreads in Dominican Republic
Wednesday - 4/30/2014, 1:26pm ET
Health officials in the Dominican Republic said this Tuesday April 29, 1014, that the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus has spread widely since making its first appearance in the country. According to the Centers for Disease Control the chikungunya virus is most often spread to people by Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. These are the same mosquitoes that transmit dengue virus. They bite mostly during the daytime. (AP Photo/USDA, File)
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) -- Health officials in the Dominican Republic say a mosquito-borne virus has spread widely since making its first appearance in the country.
The Health Ministry says it has documented about 3,500 suspected cases of chikungunya virus since it was first detected in March. Most cases have been near the capital, but Health Minister Freddy Hidalgo said Tuesday there have been some isolated cases in northern provinces.
Hidalgo spoke at the start of a two-day conference attended by representatives from Central American countries.
The virus is most commonly found in Asia and Africa. It was first detected in the Caribbean in December in French St. Martin and has spread to nearby islands.
Chikungunya is rarely fatal but it can cause high fever and intense joint and muscle pain. There is no vaccine.
It is generally felt that chikungunya has been under-diagnosed or non-diagnosed on Caribbean islands due to a variety of reasons that include clinical similarity to dengue, very limited capacity to test in islands other those of the French and US, and what may be an equally limited desire to look for it ... as bad as the Caribbean outbreak has been (over 30,000 known cases), the virus has a track record of producing much worse epidemics so there are major concerns for the Caribbean as the rainy season approaches and for the remainder of the Americas with the US heating up and the World Cup (with its related travel) heading to Brazil ... After peaking in mid-February, the number of weekly reported cases in St Barth has been pretty consistently near the level noted in the 4/17 article:
(through 4/20)
Chikungunya is a new reality for Caribbean travelers, is present in many other tropical sites, and may or probably will be coming to the US soon ...
Because viral transmission has remained low on St Barth, a "comité d’experts" will be meeting to reassess the situation on the island ... for St Martin, where population-adjusted transmission has been similar to that on St Barth, the "E" word was recently lifted and the situation there classified as "moderate autocthonous transmission" (i.e., transmission of cases of local origin) so it would not be surprising to see the same for St Barth ... good news but, with an endemo-epidemic pattern likely, this is probably not even the beginning of the end of the story ...
(through May 4, 2014)
(through May 4, 2014)
Depuis le 23 décembre 2013, la surveillance hebdomadaire a permis de recenser 510 cas cliniquement évocateurs de Chikungunya et le nombre de cas, vus en médecine de ville, au cours de la semaine écoulée était de 8.
Dans ce cadre, et comme depuis plusieurs semaines, une décroissance importante du nombre de cas évocateurs a été observée à Saint-Barthélemy, le comité de gestion, réuni le 22 mai 2014, après proposition du comité d’experts, a décidé de sortir de la phase d’épidémie.
Pour autant, et afin d’éviter une nouvelle propagation du virus et limiter le risque d’évolution vers une nouvelle situation épidémique, il convient de poursuivre les efforts de prévention et de lutte contre le moustique Aedes Aegypti, vecteur de la dengue et du chikungunya.
En outre, il est prévu la reprise ponctuelle du programme de pulvérisations sur l’île dans le cadre et en complément des actions d’ores et déjà entreprises par les services de l’ARS en matière de prévention et de vigilance sanitaires. Ce programme ponctuel, sous la forme d’une pulvérisation par semaine, s’accompagnera d’une surveillance continue sur le terrain.
... no longer classified as in an epidemic phase on St Barth but, with the virus still circulating, mosquito control efforts and personal protection are still needed to reduce the risk of progression back to an epidemic phase ... (or getting it yourself) ...
... À Suivre ...
Here staying on the windy side of Point Milou. Some skeeters but nothing out of the ordinary. However my daughter (23) started with a fever and body aches, bad headache and palpable neck lymph nodes this morning. She's pretty hot (no thermometer, just nurse/mom feel of the hand). She has always been a favorite feast of Mosquitos and has numerous bites. Will wait until we arrive home tomorrow, and hope for the best
stbartslover
Senior Insider
Sorry to hear.
It's about $200 to confirm at the Analysis Lab in Gustavia near Wall House.
I would assume other than locals most symptomatic patients appear at ER's or Primary Care back home.
JEK
Senior Insider
Your treatment is right in line with the CDC -- are you a doc? Note naproxen.
Treatment
There is no specific medication for treatment of a dengue infection. Persons who think they have dengue should use analgesics (pain relievers) with acetaminophen and avoid those containing ibuprofen, Naproxen, aspirin or aspirin containing drugs. They should also rest, drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration, avoid mosquito bites while febrile and consult a physician.
As with dengue, there is no specific medication for DHF. If a clinical diagnosis is made early, a health care provider can effectively treat DHF using fluid replacement therapy. Adequately management of DHF generally requires hospitalization.
JEK
Senior Insider
CDC link http://www.cdc.gov/dengue/Symptoms/
TJH
SBH Insider
sem - if when you return, your daughter's test for dengue comes back negative, you may wish to have an antibody test done. My daughter was sick in the DR last summer and by the time she saw a doctor there and the lab work was done, the dengue test was negative. The organization she was working for suggested she be tested for dengue antibodies upon return home, and sure enough, they were positive. From my understanding, what this means is that of the four (five?) strains of dengue, she now has immunity to one type, but if she is exposed to any of the others, her reaction may be more severe and serious. If she's ever feeling feverish when traveling in an endemic area, she must seek medical attention immediately. Good information to have. (ps she's back in the DR again this summer…)
Thank you all for your concern and advice. She has a strep infection, and is already feeling better thanks to Zithromax. Since she had classic strep symptoms they did not do blood work for vector borne diseases. She had me in a dither for a bit, as usually if there's something to "catch", she gets it.
