This morning became known that a Dutch tourist had contracted the virus at the beginning of August in La Croix-Valmer, a place near Saint-Tropez. The Stop invasive exotics platform announced that this was the first time that a Dutch person in Europe has been infected with the dengue virus.
Now it appears that another Dutch person has become infected after a holiday in France: Rowan contracted the virus in the Ardèche at the beginning of September, she tells RTL Nieuws.
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“We see the trend in the world shift from bottom to top, as far as the tiger mosquito is concerned. It is unusual but not rare for someone to get it in the South of France,” says Coen Berendse of the GGD. “Of course we do everything we can, together with the NVWA, to ensure that the tiger mosquito does not settle in the Netherlands.”
Wilfred Reinhold, chairman of the Stop invasive exotics platform foundation, did not expect a second Dutch tourist to become infected so quickly. “This underlines even more that the tiger mosquito is a problem in Southern Europe and a risk for Dutch people who go on holiday there.”
‘Whole discs on my body’
Rowan from the Netherlands went on holiday to the South of France at the end of August. During the first days of her vacation, she was stung by mosquitoes. “It gave me normal mosquito bites, as always. But after a few days the bumps got bigger, I got whole discs on my body. When I was poked on my knee, it even looked like I had a double knee.” But the prick on her ankle, at the end of her vacation on September 2, was the most painful. “It seemed as if I had thrombosis, my ankle became that thick from that bite. Then it was clear to us: these were no ordinary mosquitoes.”
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Rowan turned out to have been stung a lot by the tiger mosquito, and unfortunately at least one of them was carrying the dengue virus. “On Friday after dinner I got really nauseous. At first I thought I had eaten something wrong, but I kept feeling bad.”
The next day, Rowan and her family drove back to the Netherlands as planned. A ride Rowan will not soon forget. She was vomiting, shaking constantly, had a high fever and muscle pain all over her body. “But the headache was especially bad. Of course I have a lot of headaches, but this felt so much worse. I said: as soon as we cross the border, I have to go to a GP station.”
Have blood taken
There, doctors told her that all signs pointed to dengue fever. She had to have her blood taken immediately and the results followed later through her doctor. “It turned out that I was infected with the dengue virus, so I had dengue fever. That was pretty tough to know, especially since a second infection can be deadly.”
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Asian mosquito ended up in Europe
The Asian tiger mosquito is native to Southeast Asia. In recent years, the mosquito has spread to large parts of the world, including Europe, via international transports. According to the Stop invasive exotics platform, the first tiger mosquito was found in Europe in 1990 at an importer of used car tires in Italy.
A few years later, the tiger mosquito spread throughout Italy, after which the mosquito also showed up in neighboring countries.
The tiger mosquito has also been discovered several times in the Netherlands. If the tiger mosquito is found, the mosquitoes are controlled and exterminated at that location. These measures are taken as a precaution to prevent the tiger mosquito from settling in the Netherlands. The chance that the tiger mosquitoes that have so far been found in the Netherlands can transmit viruses such as the dengue virus is currently negligible, according to the RIVM.
Source: RIVM.nl and foundation platform Stop invasive alien species
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In any case, Rowan never expected to contract this virus in France. “It was a great surprise to us that this could happen in Europe. We went on holiday to Bali and Thailand, we never contracted anything there. And then you go to France and you get dengue fever.”
‘More information must be provided’
Rowan thinks it would be good if there is more information about the dengue virus and the chance that you can contract it in Europe. The Stop invasive exotics platform also advocates this. Chairman Wilfred Reinhold: “More information really needs to be provided to holidaymakers about the fact that you can contract this virus in Southern Europe. For example, the Dutch can prepare better by applying a high dose of DEET when they are on holiday. are you more alert when you get symptoms. “
How’s Rowan doing now? “I still have a headache and I’m tired more quickly than usual. But luckily I can go back to work this week, almost four weeks after the stab.”
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