To all of our lovely supporters worldwide!
We hope that this finds you all in the best of health and happiness.
As #dengue continues its march across borders, paying no respect to geographies and with cases recorded in more than 110 countries, 2020 has seen autochthonous cases in #France, #Spain and, more recently and for the first time, in #Italy.
This is a huge leap from the 8 or so countries affected in the 1970's. Whether this incursion into the European mainland will catalyze a step change in the fight against dengue remains to be seen; however what is certain is that dengue is here to stay.
Here, Corrado Minetti Ph.D. writes about the local transmission reported for the first time in Italy. Thank you for this pertinent piece and also for supporting our campaign calling on the World Health Organisation @WHO to ratify an official World Dengue Day to act as a rallying point to connect and provide an event horizon for the varied disciplines engaged in the struggle against the onward march of dengue.
Along with over 26,000 signatories (and rising!) of our petition and a huge multidisciplinary cross section of scientists, academics, NGOs, governments and of course the all-important public themselves, we remain steadfast in asking for a stand alone @WorldDengueDay !
Keep safe and sound and thank you each and every one of you for standing together with us in asking for a World Dengue Day!
Best wishes
Marianne Comparet & Kamran Rafiq ( Co-Founders and Directors of the ISNTD, London)