• The l'Archet 1 hospital notably houses the hemato-oncology unit and an infectious diseases department.

  • The mosquito protection system is essential for the service of Professor Mounier, whose cancer patients "no longer have any immunity and for whom a mosquito bite can be very serious".

  • Despite the decrease in air traffic, the imported cases of dengue, particularly transmitted by the tiger mosquito, are the same as in previous years in the Paca region.

Before the appearance of Covid-19, another threat lurked every year on the Côte d'Azur as summer approached: the tiger mosquito, vector of contagious diseases such as dengue, chikungunya or Zika. But a concern that the CHU l'Archet in Nice did not like to resolve.

In 2018, the hospital, which notably houses the hematology-oncology unit and an infectious disease department, was the first health facility protected by Biobelt, a network trap device that creates an anti-mosquito barrier over a large area. area.

"It was a major issue for us," says Professor Mounier, head of the university clinical center for medical specialties at l'Archet.

We have cancer patients, very fragile, who no longer have any immunity, and for whom a mosquito bite can be very serious.

With this system, the risk of contamination from other infectious diseases is reduced.

"

A universal system against all mosquito species

For almost three years, from May to November, the Biobelt has been diffusing, using 66 modules placed around the CHU, CO2 and acids to deceive the biting insects and attract them to the boxes where they find themselves trapped.

A device with which Professor Mounier is very satisfied.

“The establishment is located near a very vegetated valley and we were infested every year.

We are now well protected.

The only annoyance we still face are mosquitoes that slip into clothes and get into the hospital that way.

"

A problem that will soon be able to solve the company of Dominique Hauptmann, the designer of Biobelt.

She is currently working with a laboratory to "improve the decoys and disseminate more effective elements".

"This insect is very stubborn, hence the difficulty of achieving a completely perfect result", admits the manager of the company.

He says all the same that the protective belt is universal and works with all species of mosquitoes, "those from tropical areas like those carrying the Zika parasite".

Fewer thefts but as many imported cases

However, the Biobelt is not everywhere and does not prevent some French Riviera travelers from catching infectious diseases transmitted by mosquitoes.

As the ARS specifies, in 2020, there were more than a hundred imported cases of dengue, this is as much as in other years despite the decrease in air traffic due to the health crisis.

No Zika cases have been reported and only one of chikungunya.

She adds that in the region, ten indigenous cases of dengue have been recorded.

"We speak of an indigenous case when a person has contracted the disease on national territory and has not traveled to a contaminated area in the fifteen days preceding the date of onset of his symptoms," specifies the ARS.

For Professor Mounier, it is "global warming that allows mosquitoes to resist winter and to create an indigenous character to the diseases they transmit".

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  • Covid 19

  • Coronavirus

  • Dengue

  • Tiger mosquito

  • Nice

  • Health