A 23-year-old French student has died in Vietnam of dengue fever, a viral disease spread by mosquito bites. He had taken a sabbatical after five years at a Lyon business school before starting work, Mediafax reports, citing Le Figaro.

He died on 27 October; his former rugby club announced the death on Friday. Before Vietnam he had visited other Southeast Asian destinations. He had been admitted to a second year of a master’s programme and planned to return to France to look for a job.

Dengue is transmitted by infected mosquitoes, chiefly Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (the tiger mosquito), across tropical and subtropical regions including Southeast Asia. Symptoms — high fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, nausea, rash — usually appear a few days after infection.

Most patients recover, but severe forms can cause bleeding, dangerous drops in blood pressure and organ failure. There is no specific antiviral; care means fluids, symptom relief and hospitalisation in serious cases.

The student had played rugby since childhood; his father sits on the board of a club in Quimper, Brittany. He reached the senior side and the regional team. The club president called him a generous leader liked by teammates.

The club said it would honour him before Sunday’s French championship match with a minute’s silence, in the family’s presence.

Source: A mosquito bite proved fatal. French student killed by dengue fever (Mediafax)