Italy local dengue tally reaches 200 in 2024

In Italy, from 1 January to 22 October 2024, the national surveillance system reported 657 confirmed cases of dengue fever (457 associated with foreign travel and 200 autochthonous cases, median age of 45 years, 51% male and no deaths).

In 2023, 82 locally acquired cases were reported in Italy and 10 in 2020.

As of October 22, 2024, several local transmission events of Dengue virus (DENV) have been identified in Italy, but no new cases of infection in humans have been recorded for at least ten days:

• the largest outbreak, with 136 cases of infection, all symptomatic and with identification of Dengue virus type 2 (DENV-2), is located in a municipality in the Marche Region. Of these cases, 134 were reported by the Marche Region. In addition, 2 cases were reported in Tuscany, with epidemiological links to the Marche cases. No new cases with onset of symptoms have been reported in the last eleven days (11-22 October), highlighting a significant reduction in the number of new infections associated with this outbreak in the last four weeks, which continue to be verified and confirmed

• another smaller outbreak, (35 confirmed cases with identification of Dengue virus type 2 - DENV-2), has been identified in a municipality in the Emilia-Romagna region, which has not recorded new cases for about a month now and for which epidemiological investigations are currently underway. At the moment there is no microbiological evidence linking these cases with the previously described outbreak

• finally, an outbreak with 12 confirmed cases in Lombardy (Dengue virus type 1 - DENV-1) with no new cases in the last twenty days; and an outbreak with 8 confirmed cases in Abruzzo and no new cases in the last fifteen days. Epidemiological investigations are underway for both outbreaks.

As of October 22, all autochthonous DENV outbreaks in the country are controlled and show no signs of recent activity. The final monitoring phase aimed at definitively closing the outbreaks has been activated.

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Some additional sporadic cases and small outbreaks of autochthonous infection by DENV types 1, 2 and 3 have been reported in Veneto (1 case), Emilia-Romagna (1 case), Tuscany (2 cases), Marche (3 cases) and Abruzzo (2 cases). Epidemiological investigations conducted up to 22 October 2024 have not highlighted epidemiological or microbiological links with the cases reported in other Regions or with the other outbreaks described.