London, May 11 (PTI) Britain’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) has recorded a spike in the number of dengue and chikungunya cases in people who travel to India.
According to new HPA figures, cases of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne infection, has more than doubled in UK travellers from 166 reported cases in 2009 to 406 in 2010.
It said that “dengue fever does not occur in the UK” and the highest proportion of cases were associated with travel to India – 84 cases (21 per cent) and Thailand – 61 cases (15 per cent).
The increase in dengue reports is coupled with a 34 per cent rise in the number of reported cases of chikungunya, another mosquito borne infection, which rose from 59 cases in 2009 to 79 in 2010, it said.
Nearly 50 per cent of these cases were associated with travel to India.