The National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Security (ANSES) was contacted urgently by the Directorate General of Health to assess the benefit-risk ratio of maintaining vector control systems (LAV) implemented against dengue in overseas territories during the Covid-19 epidemic. In its conclusions, the agency specifies ” the measures taken against Covid-19 tend to limit the interventions of professionals and the population, while the overseas departments and regions are, depending on the zones, in an epidemic or pre-epidemic situation for dengue. “
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The Covid-19 has taken and still takes an enormous place in the media space, in the communications operations of the public authorities but also in the actions carried out on the ground, however, lurking in the shadows, the dengue prowls.
ANSES therefore recalls the need to continue with the vector control strategy currently in place or even to reinforce it ” while taking care to limit the spread of the coronavirus ” And it is no small matter, if the Covid-19 circulates weakly in our department, the epidemic of dengue, it does not stop gaining ground. It must be said that confinement opened up a boulevard for him because he ” slowed down or even stopped the implementation of vector control actions “Specifies ANSES.
In addition, there is the increase in unauthorized dumping, due to operations to clean up confined homes, the closure of recycling centers during the first weeks of confinement and disruption of waste collection. ” This has also contributed to an increase in mosquito breeding places “Indicates the agency.
An explosive cocktail, since the beginning of the year more than 7,800 cases of dengue fever have been reported on our territory, there are 9 deaths linked directly or indirectly to the virus and two others are under investigation. All the municipalities of the island are affected. Reunion Island is currently at level 4 of the Orsec plan (medium intensity epidemic) facing “the third epidemic wave of the virus”.
Read also: dengue: no longer a single town spared, the virus is circulating at a sustained rate
However, this goes into the background, the fault of ” intense communication around the Covid-19 Which leaves little room for prevention messages on dengue. In addition, ANSES specifies “ In Reunion Island, communication on dengue fever, already perceived as a “familiar” disease, suffers from this poor situation, and risks reducing attention and collective mobilization against its spread. “
Besides, if the issue is not tackled by the body, it is indeed a worst-case scenario that ANSES is considering “in the end, with the reduction in the number of LAV interventions on the one hand and social mobilization on the other hand, the co-circulation of the pathogens of dengue, malaria and Covid-19 make fear an increase in the number of cases of arboviroses (viral diseases due to arboviruses obligatorily transmitted by an arthropod vector mosquito type note) and the risk of congestion in hospital services.
It is therefore imperative that the issue of dengue quickly return to the priorities of the public authorities and the population ” although very little data is available to estimate the effectiveness of vector control actions (LAV), their complementarity and the synergy which result from it make it possible to improve it when they are carried out in a combined manner. Experts therefore consider that the abandonment of one or more specific actions would have the effect of reducing the overall effectiveness of LAV Insists the health security agency.
Experts recommend several measures on different aspects, in particular:
• guarantee the LAV services the material and human resources
• maintain surveillance for dengue cases
• maintain vis-à-vis the public, in a media space strongly preempted by Covid-19, active and mobilizing communication on the fight against dengue
• strengthen the collection of waste and bulky items and ensure their elimination.
L’Anse concludes ” it is essential to strengthen all the actions provided for in the LAV strategies, as usually practiced against dengue fever and malaria in the French overseas territories and more generally in France and to implement the optimal conditions making it possible to minimize the exposure of vector control professionals to Covid-19, and of the spread of this virus in populations during their implementation. “
You can find the full opinion of the Food, Environment and Work Health Safety Agency HERE
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