“It is necessarily the + Alpha + mosquito by Chikungunya that stung me: a simple mosquito could not have defeated a 94 kg guy like me,” launched Fredo Delmotte, 56, professor of EPS in a college in possession, in the west of Reunion.
On the island of the Indian Ocean, the epidemic continues to wreak havoc. From March 24 to 30, 6,289 cases were confirmed, according to the latest public health bulletin France, bringing the number of total cases to 27,521.
Fever, joint pain, headache, rashes: symptoms are varied, often brutal.
“The first signs came out on Wednesday,” Fredo Delmotte, also sports director of a swimming club, told AFP. The disease reaches its peak the next day. “The fever rose to 39.7. All movements triggered pain. Walking was a real problem,” he said.
Many patients describe a dazzling trigger.
“I woke up on Sunday with intense painted painted pain, as if it were broken,” said Valérie Sicre, 49, community manager in Sainte-Suzanne (East).
The fever and joint pain appeared shortly after. Then came the headache and intense fatigue. “I came across it, my companion had to get me up,” she recalls.
The fever was quickly replaced by an “rash that went from my ears to my toes. It was burning me,” said Valérie Sicre.
Faced with these symptoms, Fredo Delmotte quickly consults. “She did not examine me. She told me +it was chikungunya, take paracetamol +,” says the colossus, who is issued an eight -day sick leave. “I only took two days not to penalize my colleagues,” he said.
Reactions to the virus vary according to the patients. Fredo Delmotte says he started to get better on Friday, two days after the first symptoms. “But I’m still breathless. I also have the impression of having to relearn how to walk,” he says.
– 41.2 ° C of fever –
Valérie Sicre “barely puts on the effects of the virus” eight days after the appearance of the disease.
According to France Public Health Data France, the most affected age groups are 45-59 year olds, followed by 60-75 year olds and 30-44 year olds.
But children can also be contaminated.
“Friday evening, Aline, my 10 -year -old daughter, had a fever at 41.2 ° C and eruptions all over the body, with big itching,” says Sandra, a port of the port (west) who wishes to give only her first name.
The mother is all the more surprised since Aline “had the chikungunya 15 days ago, I thought her healed”.
The doctor talks about a relapse. “He told me that we could not consider ourselves for three weeks,” continues the mother of the pre-adolescent girl, who found the shape on Sunday afternoon. This Monday, the girl was able to return to class.
A resident of Saint-Denis de la Réunion, the chief town of the island, describes a similar scheme.
“I started to be really sick on Tuesday evening, it was much better on Friday and since yesterday (Sunday, editor’s note), I am in relapse, with a rash that itches, joint pain and intense fatigue,” explains this woman who wishes to keep anonymity.
Liberal worker, she confides: “I granted myself two days of rest last week but today, I am forced to go”.
Others have continued to work despite the symptoms. A press photographer, who wishes to remain anonymous, covered a visit to the Overseas Minister Manuel Valls on April 5 and 6 while being sick.
“I first believed in an allergy, then in aches. I had trouble holding my device because of the pain, but not enough to stop,” he says.
Launching the chikungunya vaccination campaign during his visit, Manuel Valls had estimated “that between 50,000, 60,000, 70,000 people” could have been reached, not having declared their contamination.
None of the interviewees also carried out a serological test to detect the virus: their doctor had not prescribed them.
Despite these figures, the health situation is less worrying than in 2005-2006, the last epidemic to date, which had left more than 200 dead. Only two deaths due to the disease have been identified.
