Dengue fever could make headway in popular European holiday destinations if climate change continues on its predicted trajectory, according to an alarming research.
The study by University of East Anglia (UEA) used current data from Mexico where dengue fever is present and information about the European Union (EU) countries in order to model the likelihood of the disease spreading in Europe.
They found that coastal regions in around the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas, the Po Valley and North East Italy were most at risk. The incidence rate is predicted to go from two per 100,000 inhabitants to 10 per 100,000 in some places. Each year, dengue infects 50 million people worldwide and causes approximately 12,000 deaths, mostly in south-east Asia and the western Pacific.
The study appeared in the journal BMC Public Health .
