West Nile virus cases rise in France, Digi Mart USA News (France): The number of locally acquired cases continues to climb across mainland France, with 212 people infected this season, more than triple the previous record. The curve has declined since the return to school, but the underlying trend has not reversed.
Eleven new locally acquired cases were identified in one week on mainland France, bringing the season total to 212 since the start of the circulation period. The figure may seem modest compared with the millions of summer mosquito bites, but it far exceeds previous counts.
Last year, which was already considered exceptional, 62 people were infected locally. The virus has therefore more than tripled its reach in a matter of months.
The large majority of infections go unnoticed or present only as flu-like illness. Of the 212 patients recorded, 177 reported symptoms.
Eighty-two developed a neuro-invasive form, meaning the nervous system was affected. Six of these patients died, though available data at this stage do not allow those deaths to be linked to the virus with certainty.
In about 1% of cases, infection leads to serious neurological complications, sometimes fatal, particularly in older people or those with weakened immune systems. No vaccine for humans is currently on the market, and there is no preventive treatment.
The epidemic peaked during the last two weeks of August and the first week of September. Since then, circulation has receded.
That decline should not obscure the essential point: transmission, long confined to the Mediterranean arc, now extends well beyond it. Sixteen mainland departments recorded their very first locally acquired human cases, from Aude to Tarn, including Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Drôme, Rhône, Isère, Ain, Allier, Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Vendée, Mayenne, Loiret and Deux-Sèvres.
Climate warming, along with other environmental changes that favor the proliferation of vector mosquitoes, particularly the common Culex, which is widespread at these latitudes, is cited as a cause.
The phenomenon extends well beyond France’s borders. More than 2,000 cases have been detected in twenty European countries since the start of the season, with Italy leading at 780 infections, followed by Greece with 463 cases.
A French health authority epidemiologist summed up the situation directly, describing an exceptional year for West Nile virus and a marked increase across many countries on the continent. His outlook remains cautious.
The epidemiology of this virus is highly unpredictable and constantly evolving, he noted, which makes any projection hazardous. One point nonetheless appears settled in the eyes of specialists: the trend of recent years points toward growing circulation, and nothing indicates an imminent reversal.
