La Reunion - Chikungunya 2024-2025

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Chikungunya vaccine: four new non-serious cases of adverse effects reported

Europe 1 with AFP
5:46 p.m. June 13, 2025 . 2 min

Side effects have been observed in several people who received the chikungunya vaccine, with an average age of 74. On June 5, the ANSM reported 47 cases across the country, 18 of which had serious adverse effects.

Four new non-serious cases of adverse events linked to the chikungunya vaccine have been reported in recent weeks, according to data published Friday by the drug agency, which recorded no new serious cases or deaths.

In total, as of June 5, "47 cases of adverse effects across the entire country, including 18 serious ones, have been reported and analyzed," said the French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM), which is responsible, among other things, for vaccine monitoring.

Only one death likely linked to the vaccine

The serious cases occurred in people with an average age of 74, and the vast majority in Réunion (77%). And, since May 23, four new non-serious cases have been reported. The main serious adverse events reported a few days after vaccination evoke symptoms similar to those of a severe form of chikungunya virus infection, and the possibility of this type of effect was known with the Ixchiq vaccine, from the Valneva laboratory, the only one authorized to date.

Only one death appears very likely linked to the vaccine deployed in Réunion against chikungunya, the French drug agency announced in mid-May, specifying that a link had not ultimately been established at this stage with two other deaths deemed suspicious.

Side effects in elderly patients

Faced with a major and widespread chikungunya epidemic in Réunion, the first in twenty years, a vaccination campaign was launched in early April in this overseas department. Now on the decline, the disease, transmitted from one human to another via the bite of an infected mosquito, has caused 23 deaths and affected approximately 200,000 people there, according to health authorities.

But the campaign was suspended at the end of April for those over 65 after several serious side effects were reported in elderly patients, including one death in an octogenarian who developed encephalitis. Since then, vaccination has become almost nonexistent in Réunion.

Vaccination campaign in Mayotte

While the chikungunya epidemic is now on the decline in Réunion, another one began in early June in Mayotte , of uncertain scale. A vaccination campaign with Ixchiq has therefore also been decided in this archipelago, targeting 18-64 year-olds with at least one comorbidity and taking into account the specific health conditions of Mayotte, in particular the significant number of comorbidities at advanced stages.

But "we really have a very low number of doses administered" in Mayotte, indicated epidemiologist Hassani Youssouf, from the local unit of Public Health France, at the beginning of June, estimating that the vaccination rate peaked at around ten doses per week.

https://www.europe1.fr/sante/vaccin...n-graves-deffets-indesirables-declares-758609

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​Vaccine monitoring

PUBLISHED ON 06/13/2025​
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Monitoring of pharmacovigilance cases with the Ixchiq vaccine
(Screenshots)
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https://ansm.sante.fr/dossiers-thematiques/vaccin-contre-le-chikungunya/surveillance-des-vaccins

 

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Chikungunya: 4 additional deaths, the number of deaths rises to 27

The Chikungunya virus continues to lose ground amid the southern winter. While Réunion Island is experiencing a low-intensity epidemic, investigations into suspicious deaths continue. The death toll has risen by four.

ODL • Published on June 18, 2025 at 4:12 p.m., updated June 18, 2025 at 4:24 p.m.

With fewer primary care visits and fewer visits to emergency rooms, the chikungunya epidemic continues to decline, as it began several weeks ago. At the same time, investigations into suspicious deaths continue, bringing the number of deaths attributed to the virus to 27 since the beginning of the year.

Epidemic indicators in free fall

Between the last week of May and the first week of June, the number of confirmed cases was almost halved, going from 449 to 252. The virus continues to circulate in all the municipalities of the island, but in different proportions: Saint Paul and Saint-Denis remain the municipalities that reported the most cases, with respectively 166 and 127 cases over these 15 days.

Regarding the number of visits to the emergency room, the services are far from the overwhelm of the peak of the epidemic which occurred in mid-April, after a maximum of 389 admissions, 13 visits to the emergency room for chikungunya were recorded for the first week of June.

27 deaths linked to chikungunya since the beginning of the year

Following the last meeting of the accountability committee, four cases were closed. Two of these cases are recognized as directly linked to chikungunya and two as indirectly linked to the disease. These deaths occurred between April 13 and 27 and involved people over the age of 65 with comorbidities. Since the beginning of the year, 27 deaths have been officially attributed to the disease. Another 25 deaths are currently under investigation.

One of the indigenous cases of mainland France linked to Reunion Island?

In its latest epidemic bulletin, Public Health France highlights that the two indigenous cases of chikungunya identified in the south of France are "the earliest ever identified." Although investigations are still ongoing, one of them appears to be linked to the outbreak in Réunion.

The island is also the main source of imported cases, with 502 since May 1, or 86% of imported cases.

https://la1ere.franceinfo.fr/reunio...-continue-de-perdre-en-intensite-1596789.html
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End of the chikungunya epidemic: transition to level 2 of the ORSEC system

News
June 24, 2025

On the proposal of Gérard COTELLON, Director General of ARS La Réunion, Patrice LATRON, Prefect of La Réunion, has decided to return the ORSEC system for combating arboviruses to level 2. This level corresponds to moderate indigenous viral circulation and marks the end of the chikungunya epidemic on the island.

Declining indicators

For several consecutive weeks, the number of cases has been falling sharply, and the impact on emergency departments and hospital care has returned to normal. By comparison, confirmed cases were 7,500 in week 13, at the peak of the epidemic, compared to 197 in week 24.
The number of admissions to the department's emergency departments was 389 in week 16, compared to 9 in week 25.

Health indicators are therefore in sharp decline, and no significant impact is observed in general medicine and hospitals.

Eliminating the circulation of chikungunya: a collective commitment

To prevent further contamination and halt the spread of the virus, the vector control service (LAV) of the ARS La Réunion is prioritizing its interventions around cases reported by medical biology laboratories. It is therefore essential, in the event of symptoms, to consult your doctor and have a biological analysis carried out.

Furthermore, local authorities are continuing their sanitation and awareness-raising actions among the population with the support of the ARS.

LAV interventions also focus on strategic sites, particularly to protect the most vulnerable people: homes for infants, women in late pregnancy and elderly people with comorbidities, maternity wards, nursing homes, daycare centers, schools. On these sites, several actions are deployed: surveys to identify and eliminate larval breeding sites, awareness-raising among occupants, distribution of repellents, larviciding treatments (against larvae) in the event that it is impossible to eliminate breeding sites immediately.

Insecticide treatments will be reserved for the intervention areas around the cases, in order to limit the development of insecticide resistance in insects and the adverse effects on the environment.

We can all take action

The health authorities are reminding people of the importance of individual and collective action and are calling on the people of Réunion to continue to take preventive measures:

1. Consult a doctor in the event of symptoms to enable rapid screening and inform the ARS LAV service, which will then be able to intervene effectively in the areas concerned;
2. Use repellents;
3. Eliminate breeding sites around your home;
4. Use mosquito nets.

The 2025 chikungunya epidemic: significant state mobilization

1. 57,328 houses and buildings visited;
2. More than 30,000 mosquito repellents and 7,500 mosquito nets distributed;
3. 30,076 insecticide treatments carried out;
4. 15,968 breeding sites eliminated;
5. 10,488 areas benefited from an intervention;
6. More than 4,000 people made aware of or trained in preventive measures;
7. More than 975 interventions on strategic sites;
8. 240 actions carried out by the LAV service’s Social Mobilization Task Force;
9. 200 LAV agents deployed in the field;
10. 120 RSMA soldiers in support;
11. 14 engineers and technicians from the Public Health France health reserve.

Furthermore, municipal and inter-municipal services and 800 PEC LAV (job skills courses dedicated to vector control) continue to strengthen this mobilization, placed under the coordination of the Prefect, in close collaboration with the Director General of the ARS.
The partners (communities, associations, businesses, etc.) also organized numerous awareness-raising actions (stands, street awareness, in supermarkets, training of their agents, etc.).


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https://www.lareunion.ars.sante.fr/...gunya-passage-au-niveau-2-du-dispositif-orsec




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Chikungunya: European Medicines Agency lifts restrictions on use of Ixchiq vaccine

11/07/2025

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Friday lifted its temporary restrictions on the use of the chikungunya vaccine, Ixchiq, in people over 65, but with precautions.

The EMA's Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee concluded that "the vaccine should only be administered if there is a significant risk of chikungunya infection and after careful consideration of the benefits and risks," according to a statement.

The agency points out that "serious side effects with the vaccine have been reported primarily in people 65 years of age and older and in those with these serious medical conditions." It launched a risk assessment, accompanied by temporary restrictions on use, last May.

In Réunion, the site of a major chikungunya epidemic, vaccination became almost non-existent in June after the Ixchiq vaccine was no longer recommended for people over 65, following serious adverse effects in some of them, medical experts reported.

Vaccination efforts were halted by reports of nearly 20 serious side effects linked to Ixchiq, developed by Valneva. All of them involved people aged 62 and over.

According to the EMA, the vaccine, which has been authorized for use in the EU since June 2024, is nonetheless "effective in triggering the production of antibodies against the virus," which "could be particularly beneficial for older people at increased risk of severe chikungunya infection."

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https://www.linfodurable.fr/chikung...es-restrictions-dutilisation-du-vaccin-ixchiq

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Ixchiq: temporary restriction on vaccinating people 65 years and older to be lifted

11 July 2025

Vaccine to be used only when there is a significant chikungunya risk and after careful consideration of the benefits and risks
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https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/i...n-vaccinating-people-65-years-older-be-lifted

 

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Investigation launched into chikungunya exposure in Reunion

Nearly 20 years after the historic 2005-2006 epidemic, Réunion experienced a second major wave of chikungunya in 2025. In this context, Public Health France and the Réunion Regional Health Agency are launching a joint survey to estimate the proportion of the population that has been infected. This seroprevalence study (search for antibodies), led by Public Health France, will measure the level of herd immunity to chikungunya and better anticipate the risks of resurgence in the years to come.

Published on August 20, 2025
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Press contacts

Public Health France
presse@santepubliquefrance.fr
ARS La Réunion
ars-reunion-communication@ars.sante.fr

An overview of immunity across the island

The study will begin on August 25, 2025, and will continue for three months. It aims to measure the seroprevalence of chikungunya across Reunion Island and by district.
The results will allow:

• Document the current level of immunity of the population of Reunion Island
• Estimating the scale of the 2025 epidemic
• Refine the analysis of the risk of epidemic occurrence in the coming years.

For ARS La Réunion, this data will be essential for:

• Adapt prevention and communication strategies
• Strengthen epidemiological surveillance
• Optimize vector control actions.

A simple and reliable method

During the study recruitment period, individuals presenting to a medical biology laboratory as part of a previously prescribed examination will be offered this analysis. It is open to all residents of Reunion Island, regardless of age or gender, who are thus invited to participate in this study by having a blood sample taken in one of the 23 partner medical analysis laboratories.

Whether or not there is a known history of chikungunya, every participation is essential: the more participants there are, the more accurate and representative the results will be of the level of herd immunity.

After carrying out the prescribed analyses during a blood sample, the remaining quantity of serum (the liquid part of the blood sampled), if sufficient, will be used to search for the presence of chikungunya antibodies by the associated National Reference Centre (NRC) for arboviruses, located at the University Hospital of La Réunion.
In total, nearly 1,500 people will be included, with a balanced distribution across the island's four districts, to ensure reliable and representative results for the entire population of Réunion, as well as estimates for each district. Each patient included in the study will receive the results of their analysis and will then know their immunity status against chikungunya.

A network of highly involved partners

The island's private laboratories and the associated National Reference Centre for Arboviruses (La Réunion University Hospital) are fully mobilized to inform the public at partner sampling sites and support patients throughout the study.
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https://www.santepubliquefrance.fr/...-sur-l-exposition-du-chikungunya-a-la-reunion



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