By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

The Epidemiological Surveillance Urgency Service (SUVEC) of the Epidemiological Surveillance Network of Catalonia (XVEC) reported this week (computer translated) on a laboratory confirmed autochthonous dengue fever case.

Aedes albopictus/FotoshopTofs

The patient, a resident in the Barcelonès, reported no recent travel history.

The  Monitoring and Control Protocol for mosquito-borne arbovirosis in Catalonia , and the Mosquito Control Service of the Baix Llobregat, the corresponding city councils, the Public Health Agency of Barcelona and the Diputación de Barcelona, ​​as agencies involved in this case, are implementing control measures for the vector -the tiger mosquito- to prevent its proliferation, as well as the actions of the virus surveillance in mosquitoes by IRTA -CReSA in order to prevent the appearance of new cases. 

In Catalonia, every year there are reported cases of dengue cases in people affected by endemic areas in the XVEC, which makes possible the appearance of new autochthonous cases, mainly during the period of proliferation and maximum activity of mosquitoes (spring, summer and beginning of autumn). Since the year 2014, when the Protocol was launched, a total of 507 cases of dengue were detected in Catalonia, two of which are autochthonous; the first was last November and the second is the current case. 

Although the risk of transmission to people is very low, given the beginning of the decrease in temperatures, it is necessary to think about the diagnosis of dengue in patients with a sudden picture of general malaise, high fever, headache and an eruption on the face that is spreading to the body, thorax and limbs. The patient in this native case required hospital admission and received the discharge two days later.

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The Catalan Public Health Agency recalls that prevention is the best method for controlling mosquitoes: the most effective is avoiding the placing of eggs and the growth of their aquatic larvae, eliminating or controlling all water points where it can grow, such as vases, buckets, dishes under the pots, domestic animals, etc.