With increasing travel post-COVID-19 coupled with a warming planet, tropical diseases and the viruses that cause them are closer to UK shores than ever. Dr Neil Bentley looks at the increasing prevalence and spread of dengue fever and the barriers to correct diagnosis.
As we recover from the recent pandemic, global travel is on the increase again. However, our holiday memories and pictures are not the only things that we can bring back home with us. Infectious diseases caused by a plethora of microorganisms are endemic in many of the countries we visit. To further compound this, our insistence in heating up the planet via carbon emission is bringing diseases previously only seen in tropics and subtropics closer to home.
As an example, Aedes mosquitoes, one of the vectors carrying a number of viruses including dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika, are now on our doorstep. Italy, Spain and France in continental Europe have recently reported non-travel related dengue cases.1 The World Health Organization (WHO) is concerned about the spread and is now monitoring the clinical diseases and epidemiology associated with these viruses.2 It is only a matter of time before we see our own non-travel related infection cases within the United Kingdom. Do we have the knowledge, diagnostic capability and awareness in our hospitals and laboratories to detect and manage these diseases? Is it now time to get smarter with sometimes forgotten tropical diseases?
Growing risks
Log in or register FREE to read the rest
This story is Premium Content and is only available to registered users. Please log in at the top of the page to view the full text.
If you don't already have an account, please register with us completely free of charge.