ABSTRACT
In 1996-97, the last dengue virus serotype 2 (DENV-2) outbreak occurred in French Polynesia. In February 2019, DENV-2 infection was detected in a traveller from New Caledonia. In March, autochthonous DENV-2 infection was diagnosed in two residents. A DENV-2 outbreak was declared on 10 April with 106 cases as at 24 June. Most of the population is not immune to DENV-2; a large epidemic could occur with risk of imported cases in mainland France.
Subject(s)
Dengue Virus/genetics , Dengue Virus/isolation & purification , Dengue/diagnosis , Disease Outbreaks , Mosquito Vectors/virology , RNA, Viral/genetics , Adolescent , Adult , Animals , Dengue/epidemiology , Female , Hospitalization , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Phylogeny , Polynesia/epidemiology , Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Serogroup , Young AdultABSTRACT
We investigated dengue and chikungunya virus antibody seroprevalence in French Polynesia during 2014-2015. Dengue virus seroprevalence was ≈60% among schoolchildren and >83% among the general population; chikungunya virus seroprevalence was <3% before and 76% after Zika virus emergence (2013). Dengue virus herd immunity may affect Zika virus infection and pathogenesis.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Viral/immunology , Chikungunya Fever/epidemiology , Chikungunya Fever/immunology , Chikungunya virus/immunology , Dengue Virus/immunology , Dengue/epidemiology , Dengue/immunology , Adolescent , Adult , Antibodies, Neutralizing/immunology , Chikungunya Fever/history , Child , Child, Preschool , Dengue/history , History, 21st Century , Humans , Middle Aged , Neutralization Tests , Polynesia/epidemiology , Seroepidemiologic Studies , Young AdultABSTRACT
In French Polynesia, the four serotypes of dengue virus (DENV-1 to -4) have caused 14 epidemics since the mid-1940s. From the end of 2016, an increasing number of Pacific Island Countries and Territories have reported DENV-2 outbreaks and in February 2017, DENV-2 infection was detected in French Polynesia in three travellers from Vanuatu. As DENV-2 has not been circulating in French Polynesia since December 2000, there is high risk for an outbreak to occur.