THERE has been an outbreak of dengue fever across Europe linked to a highly-invasive species of the Asian tiger mosquito.

It has spread to Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Spain.

This is due to climate change creating more favourable conditions for the tiger mosquito to migrate into Europe.

In 2023 dengue fever affected 6.5 million people worldwide and accounted for 7,300 deaths.

Many people from our county will travel to the continent for their summer holidays.

Additionally, with the ongoing European Championship football in Germany and the upcoming Olympics in Paris, international travel will further increase the risk of more European outbreaks and imported infections into the UK.

In 2023 there were 634 imported cases of dengue fever in the UK and this number is set to rise this summer.

I’d like to reach out to our community to empower them with what they need to know about dengue fever to stay safe during the warm summer months ahead.

Dengue fever is a viral infection that spreads through the bite of infected mosquitoes.

Most people who get dengue will not have symptoms.

But, for those who do, the most common symptoms are flu-like symptoms, high fever, headache, pain behind the eyes, swollen glands, aches and pains, nausea and rash.

Most people will get better within one to two weeks, however, a minority of patients will develop severe dengue which can be fatal and require hospital care.

Severe dengue is characterised by abdominal pain, bloody diarrhoea, bleeding from the gums, vomiting blood, dehydration, restlessness, fatigue, feeling cold and clammy, confusion and shock.

After recovery, people who have had dengue may feel tired for several weeks.

There is no specific treatment for dengue.

Treatment is based on supportive measures to include rehydration and using paracetamol to control pain and fevers.

I would urge patients travelling to Europe to take caution with preventative measures to lower the risk of mosquito bites.

This includes wearing clothes that cover as much of your body as possible, using mosquito nets impregnated with insect repellant when sleeping, using window screens and using mosquito repellents containing DEET, picaridin or IR3535. A dengue fever vaccine called Qdenga is licensed for use in the UK.

However, it is only available to patients aged four years of age and older with confirmed dengue infection in the past and who are planning to travel to areas where there is a risk of dengue infection.

The vaccine is not available to patients who have never been infected with dengue previously.

Any patient concerned about dengue infection should consult with their GP or local travel clinic for advice.

n Our columnist Dr Jason Seewoodhary is a former Worcester GP.