Reunion hospital boss urges reinforcements amid chikungunya outbreak

The pinnacle of the hospital service on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion on Sunday known as for medical reinforcements to deal with an epidemic of the mosquito-borne chikungunya illness.

“We’re actually stretched to our limits,” Lionel Calenge advised the RMC radio station.

“Epidemiologists predicted the epidemic peak would hit in mid-April, and right here we’re.”

His enchantment went out a day earlier than French President Emmanuel Macron was to embark on a five-day tour of Indian Ocean territories, together with a cease in Reunion on Tuesday.

Because the begin of the yr, chikungunya has already killed six individuals on the island, and round one in 9 individuals within the inhabitants of almost 900,000 is believed to be affected.

Though France’s public well being service mentioned the epidemic seemed to be easing in early April, Calenge mentioned, “Every single day, for a number of weeks now, now we have been getting between 30 and 40 sufferers with ‘chik’ in our two emergency wards.”

The 4 hospitals underneath his cost have inadequate beds, with 581 individuals hospitalized with the illness for the reason that begin of 2025, together with 46 newborns, whereas 540 medical employees have been off work since early March as a result of they contracted chikungunya, he mentioned.

He mentioned that his service had to date obtained three back-up medical doctors, however he was calling for six extra.

The hospital service has delay some 300 beforehand scheduled operations and known as personnel again from go away to deal with the outbreak, Calenge mentioned.

© 2025 AFP