Dengue mosquito
Dengue mosquito
Those of you working in the areas where Dengue fever Is present, what are the ways you protect yourselves? Has anybody, or do you know of anybody who gotten Dengue fever and do they have any after effects from the ..
Re: Dengue mosquito
My wife had it. It's pretty nasty, but she's none the worse. You should be more worried about malaria. Ten years in a malaria zone and I've had two mild cases. It's much more common than dengue. You just need to cover up and invest in good insect repellent.
Re: Dengue mosquito
All you can do is pray. Covering up is not even enough as mosquitos can get through most fabrics that are cool enough to wear in tropical climates. Yet, as bad as dengue is, Zika is now the great fear, as it's causing microcephaly in children of women bitten during their pregnancies. As mentioned previously by another poster to this forum, Brazil is a good spot right now for men, not women, especially those looking to get pregnant.
Re: Dengue mosquito
Don't bother to pray, just be vigilant and observe what is sucking the blood out of your arms and legs.
Dengue carrying mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) like urbanisation. It is therefore really important you don't have fresh flowers in water inside you home or pot plants sitting around in little saucers (and probably no accident why many people in developing countries prefer plastic flowers). These mosquitoes will take advantage of this water to breed very quickly. It some countries in SE Asia you can buy powders to put in the loo if you go away for a few days ... this is some sort of nasty poison that stops them breeding. The mosquitoes seem to be smart enough to work out how to crawl or fly under a toilet lid in order to lay eggs in the water.
Aedes aegypti have distinctive stripy legs, so if you see stripy mosquitoes biting you, you are at risk! I noticed some of these biting me on the arm at home while working in my last OS job (and my school already had a few students who had caught it from mosquitoes that had been breeding in a water feature; in fact we were given a government poster to put up which is how I became aware of their appearance.) I quickly took action, closing windows and spraying the house, and was lucky, too as I never became ill. Dengue can be a very painful experience and can be dangerous affecting your blood clotting ability (particularly if you become infected with a different strain on another occasion). In some countries it is a reportable disease.
Anopheles mosquitoes, which can carry the parasite that causes malaria, are greyish in colour and typically 'stand on their heads' while they are biting. These species are widely distributed (including in the UK, for example), but typically not in urban areas so much. ... so teachers in big cities are less likely to be at risk.
The other 'learning' I had from my close encounter with Aedes aegypti is that the locals knew all the signs to look out for - so have a conversation with the colleagues you trust, for your conditions.
Dengue carrying mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) like urbanisation. It is therefore really important you don't have fresh flowers in water inside you home or pot plants sitting around in little saucers (and probably no accident why many people in developing countries prefer plastic flowers). These mosquitoes will take advantage of this water to breed very quickly. It some countries in SE Asia you can buy powders to put in the loo if you go away for a few days ... this is some sort of nasty poison that stops them breeding. The mosquitoes seem to be smart enough to work out how to crawl or fly under a toilet lid in order to lay eggs in the water.
Aedes aegypti have distinctive stripy legs, so if you see stripy mosquitoes biting you, you are at risk! I noticed some of these biting me on the arm at home while working in my last OS job (and my school already had a few students who had caught it from mosquitoes that had been breeding in a water feature; in fact we were given a government poster to put up which is how I became aware of their appearance.) I quickly took action, closing windows and spraying the house, and was lucky, too as I never became ill. Dengue can be a very painful experience and can be dangerous affecting your blood clotting ability (particularly if you become infected with a different strain on another occasion). In some countries it is a reportable disease.
Anopheles mosquitoes, which can carry the parasite that causes malaria, are greyish in colour and typically 'stand on their heads' while they are biting. These species are widely distributed (including in the UK, for example), but typically not in urban areas so much. ... so teachers in big cities are less likely to be at risk.
The other 'learning' I had from my close encounter with Aedes aegypti is that the locals knew all the signs to look out for - so have a conversation with the colleagues you trust, for your conditions.
Response
I have had both Dengue and Malaria, neither one was fun, it was like getting the worst case of the flu you can imagine. There are prophylactic medication you can take for Malaria, but being on them for an extended period of time can lead to serious health complications. Wear light but long clothing, use a repellent that contains DDT and a mosquito net over your bed and use the bug zappers while being vigilant of standing water in and around your home.
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wntriscoming
- Posts: 114
- Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 3:44 am
Re: Dengue mosquito
My husband and I both ended up with Dengue this year, but fortunately it was not as serious as most cases we'd heard of. We got rashes that itched like crazy over our entire bodies, starting from the chest and spreading outwards to fingers and toes. We also had mild headaches, body aches, and extreme tiredness. Again, this was not severe, hospital-needing dengue, which we've had coworkers experience.
We typically do not open windows in the house to avoid most mosquitoes. We also buy electrical plug-in mosquito repellents and wear mosquito patches during the high dengue season. Because dengue mosquitoes are usually out during the day, and we're at work in the a/c, we've been lucky until this year. We also know which ones to watch out for (larger sized, striped, etc) and are vigilant to kill any we see indoors.
Everyone else's responses are right-on. Personally, I think I'd rather have a dengue risk than malaria risk.
We typically do not open windows in the house to avoid most mosquitoes. We also buy electrical plug-in mosquito repellents and wear mosquito patches during the high dengue season. Because dengue mosquitoes are usually out during the day, and we're at work in the a/c, we've been lucky until this year. We also know which ones to watch out for (larger sized, striped, etc) and are vigilant to kill any we see indoors.
Everyone else's responses are right-on. Personally, I think I'd rather have a dengue risk than malaria risk.
Re: Dengue mosquito
Is it safe to say that using repellant will keep them away?
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wrldtrvlr123
- Posts: 1173
- Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 10:59 am
- Location: Japan
Re: Response
PsyGuy wrote:
> I have had both Dengue and Malaria, neither one was fun, it was like
> getting the worst case of the flu you can imagine. There are prophylactic
> medication you can take for Malaria, but being on them for an extended
> period of time can lead to serious health complications. Wear light but
> long clothing, use a repellent that contains DDT and a mosquito net over
> your bed and use the bug zappers while being vigilant of standing water in
> and around your home.
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Lol. On top of having apparently trained and worked in the UK according to the other thread. You are quickly becoming the Forest Gump of the forum? Did you kill Kennedy too?
> I have had both Dengue and Malaria, neither one was fun, it was like
> getting the worst case of the flu you can imagine. There are prophylactic
> medication you can take for Malaria, but being on them for an extended
> period of time can lead to serious health complications. Wear light but
> long clothing, use a repellent that contains DDT and a mosquito net over
> your bed and use the bug zappers while being vigilant of standing water in
> and around your home.
---------------------
Lol. On top of having apparently trained and worked in the UK according to the other thread. You are quickly becoming the Forest Gump of the forum? Did you kill Kennedy too?
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tommypizza
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2011 11:35 am
Re: Dengue mosquito
I would not use DDT on myself and I'm not sure that is actually available...What you want is DEET!! A little bit goes a long way.
You need to watch when you are sitting outside in the evening...perhaps dining at an outside cafe. Mosquitos will lurk underneath the table and get at your legs. Always keep your bottle of repellent handy.
I got Dengue and its not fun. Incredible headache behind the eyes and "bone breaking" pain at times. Picture your worst hangover ever...and that is it for 9 days. Well, that was about 5 days...it kinda tapers off in the last 3 days or so...depending on which one you get but I had the textbook 9 day dengue. The biggest side effect was the semi-depression I got while sick...that lasted a while after.
Every mosquito is a threat!
You need to watch when you are sitting outside in the evening...perhaps dining at an outside cafe. Mosquitos will lurk underneath the table and get at your legs. Always keep your bottle of repellent handy.
I got Dengue and its not fun. Incredible headache behind the eyes and "bone breaking" pain at times. Picture your worst hangover ever...and that is it for 9 days. Well, that was about 5 days...it kinda tapers off in the last 3 days or so...depending on which one you get but I had the textbook 9 day dengue. The biggest side effect was the semi-depression I got while sick...that lasted a while after.
Every mosquito is a threat!
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tommypizza
- Posts: 58
- Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2011 11:35 am
Re: Dengue mosquito
Psyguy? DDT? are you serious? Do you know why the Bald Eagle is no longer endangered...because of conservation and the discontinuation of the use of DDT...a known cancer causer. It's ok though...I know no one could get that if they wanted to.
Re: Dengue mosquito
Do you know of any school employees who have died from Dengue?
Re: Dengue mosquito
tommypizza wrote:
> Psyguy? DDT? are you serious? Do you know why the Bald Eagle is no longer endangered...because
> of conservation and the discontinuation of the use of DDT...a known cancer causer.
> It's ok though...I know no one could get that if they wanted to.
Not defending the stuff, but it is very effective against mosquitoes and there is an argument that banning DDT causes more harm than it solves. I know when I was a Peace Corps volunteer it was given to me as a deterrent against insects in my home.
> Psyguy? DDT? are you serious? Do you know why the Bald Eagle is no longer endangered...because
> of conservation and the discontinuation of the use of DDT...a known cancer causer.
> It's ok though...I know no one could get that if they wanted to.
Not defending the stuff, but it is very effective against mosquitoes and there is an argument that banning DDT causes more harm than it solves. I know when I was a Peace Corps volunteer it was given to me as a deterrent against insects in my home.
Re: Dengue mosquito
kleikm wrote:
> Do you know of any school employees who have died from Dengue?
Nope, but when I had dengue there was about a six hour hour stretch the third night when I truly hoped I would die.
> Do you know of any school employees who have died from Dengue?
Nope, but when I had dengue there was about a six hour hour stretch the third night when I truly hoped I would die.