Rising temperatures and growing urban populations have made the world, especially South and Central America, aware of dengue, which can be deadly.
– There is a significant increase in dengue fever cases at the moment. The mosquitoes that transmit the dengue virus belong to the genus Aedes. One species in this genus, called the tiger mosquito, has settled in areas in Europe, especially around the Mediterranean Sea, Elisabeth Astrup, a doctor at the Public Health Institute (FHI) Department of Infection Control and Preparedness, tells Dagbladet.
More than 2,000 died
So far this year alone, more than five million people have been registered as having dengue fever — and more than 2,000 people have died from dengue-related illnesses, according to a report. European Infection Control Agency (ECDC).
Full hospitals: People with dengue symptoms line up to receive medical treatment in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires in April this year. Argentina has seen a six-fold increase in the number of infected people since last year, and stores are running out of mosquito spray. Photo: AFP/NTB
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In Argentina, hospitals are filled with patients infected with the dengue virus. The number of infected people at the end of March reached 233,000, and 161 deaths, according to figures. Watchman.
– The number of mosquitoes that spread dengue fever is becoming more and more early. This year the disease spread violently, and we fear that next year will be worse, as doctor Lida Josi tells Reuters.
In Brazil, a field hospital is being built in the capital, Brasilia, to receive dengue patients, he writes Economist. Dengue fever is also widespread in Mexico and Central America. Countries such as Uruguay and Chile, which had never recorded dengue fever before, also recorded infections.
It will spread
Dengue fever is a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes. The disease has been on the rise in large parts of the world, and today it is the most common mosquito-borne disease, according to the World Health Organization. Global Health Organization.
Mosquito activity and virus reproduction inside mosquitoes depend on temperature. In areas with lower temperatures, there is little risk of viral diseases spreading by Aedes mosquitoes, which have settled and become endemic in Europe at present, explains Astrup at FHI.
What follows: The Norwegian Institute of Public Health and physician Elisabeth Astrup are tracking the Aedes mosquito that spreads dengue fever. Photo: private
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The tiger mosquito is expected to expand its range. Climate change constitutes a large part of the reasons for the spread of mosquitoes: increasing temperatures in general, and there are fewer places in the world where winter temperatures fall below 15 degrees, which is the period in which mosquitoes die, according to the American “space” website. Economist.
– But of course we cannot predict exactly where and how quickly mosquitoes will spread. We expect the expansion to take place mainly in the Mediterranean basin, east and west, says Astrup.
Spotting scary mosquitoes on a favorite Norwegian vacation
Not in Norway
But FHI also expects larger parts of continental Europe to become more hospitable to dengue mosquitoes in the coming decades.
– Also in northern Europe, such as in parts of Germany and southern parts of Great Britain, conditions may become more favorable due to wetter and warmer conditions, Astrup says.
Northern Europe's cold winters and average annual temperatures appear to be the main factors limiting the spread of mosquitoes.
Therefore, this mosquito is not expected to settle in Norway any time soon, says Astrup.
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