The dengue epidemic does not subside and attacks children

It was in October 2019 that the contamination values ​​exceeded the epidemic thresholds: since then, therefore, for more than a year, dengue has been riding in the archipelago, at very high levels. Last week, like the previous one, 950 people were infected. On average 135 per day. The total number of contaminations now stands at 18,905.
The entire archipelago is affected by the reappearance of suggestive cases of dengue. Grande Terre remains strongly influenced by the circulation of dengue fever in all municipalities, in particular in four of them where the cumulative incidence is the highest, exceeding 100 cases estimated per 10,000 inhabitants: Saint-François (297), Le Gosier ( 206), Les Abymes (136) and le Moule (116). In Basse Terre, viral circulation is intensifying in the Petit Bourg, which has the highest incidence rate in Guadeloupe (349) and remains very active in the Vieux habitants (279) and in the municipality of Basse Terre (104).
Most of the municipalities of Basse-Terre that have a sentinel doctor have reported cases of dengue in the last four weeks, except in Pointe Noire and Baie-Mahault. In Bouillante, the sentinel doctor has not participated in the surveillance in recent weeks. The incidence is stable (between 20 and 40/10 000) in Désirade and Marie Galante, while no cases have been reported in Terre-de-Bas in the last 4 weeks.

Children on the front line

Since the start of the surveillance of serious cases and deaths, deployed in 2019, one death was recorded in September that was assessed by doctors of the CHBT as directly related to dengue fever, as well as a serious case admitted to intensive care at the CHU de Guadeloupe from 29 October to November 4th. He has since been discharged from the hospital.
Since the beginning of July, an increasing dynamic has been observed in the number of weekly emergency visits for suspected dengue fever, peaking at the end of October. Since the beginning of the epidemic, 883 emergency room visits have been recorded, of which 34.6% among the under 15, 44.7% between 15-44 years old, 15.4% between 45-64 and 5 years old 3% among those over 65. Among these steps, 162 required hospitalization (18.3%).
In the past four weeks, 41 out of 214 (19.2%) visits were followed by hospitalization, nearly half of which involved children under 15 (20 out of 41). The proportion of children under 15 has increased in the past four weeks (48, compared to 35% observed in the total period).