Italy reports some 50 dengue cases during first two months of year

Rome: Italy reported 48 dengue cases between January 1 and February 21, all of which were imported, leading to an increase in measures to fight the disease, it was learned recently.

According to a press release on the specialized news website Quotidiano Sanitá, during a Senate hearing on Thursday, Italian Minister of Health Orazio Schillaci pointed out, ‘We are attentive and doing everything necessary’ to prevent an increase in the number of contagions, which totaled 362, with one death, in 2023.

Of the total number of contagions last year, 84 were autochthonous cases in the regions of Lombardy and Lazio, but none of the patients so far in 2024 contracted the disease in this nation, so ‘the situation is not alarming,’ the minister told lawmakers.

Schillaci emphasized that ‘Italy stands out as the first European country to implement dengue prevention measures immediately, thanks to the action by the Health Ministry and the employees of the maritime, air and border peripheral health offices in the main Italian ports and airports.’