Russian propaganda fake: Health Ministry refutes information about spread of Dengue fever in Ukraine

That’s according to the website of the Ministry of Health, Ukrinform reports.

"False information about the spread of Dengue fever in Ukraine is being distributed online. VoxCheck fact-checkers have analyzed the fake shared by Russian propaganda on Telegram channels. As it turned out, they distorted the words of a Ukrainian infectious disease doctor who wrote about the symptoms of Dengue fever in her personal blog. The Ministry of Health urges Ukrainians to be careful and check information on the official resources of the Ministry of Health," the statement said.

As noted, according to the World Health Organization, Dengue, previously typical of Africa and Asia, is now spreading to new areas.

The disease is now endemic in more than 100 countries in the WHO Regions of Africa, the Americas, the Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia and the Western Pacific. As of June 2024, WHO has reported more than 10 million cases since the beginning of the year. Ukraine is not among these countries.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, in mainland Europe, imported cases from endemic areas have been reported in 2024 (e.g., in Germany, Italy and France but no autochthonous cases have been reported so far. This means that fever is observed only in patients who have previously traveled to endemic or epidemic areas.

Dengue fever is an acute infectious disease. The incubation period lasts 3-15 days. The disease usually starts suddenly: chills, headache, severe pain in the back, sacrum, spine, and joints (especially knees) appear. Fever is observed in all patients, and the body temperature quickly rises to 39-40°C.

The aedes albopictus mosquito - the "tiger mosquito" - is known to transmit Dengue virus. This species of mosquito has been recorded in such EU countries as Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In Ukraine, "tiger mosquitoes" are common on the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea. The northern limit of their distribution is in Hungary, near Ukraine’s Zakarpattia. However, there are currently no reasons for declaring Ukraine an endemic region.

The Ministry of Health has not reported any threat of Dengue spreading in Ukraine. There may be isolated "imported" cases in Ukraine, but this is not evidence of a massive spread of the virus or an epidemiological threat.

As reported by Ukrinform, in June, the State Commission on Technogenic and Environmental Safety and Emergency Situations decided to conduct an additional vaccination campaign against diphtheria and tetanus, as well as to strengthen control over the quality of drinking water.