The Mosquito: How to Protect Yourself

The US Centre for Disease Control describes the mosquito as “a very dangerous insect” says HELEN JOHNSON

It kills more than one million people a year simply by the spread of malaria. And today we know that the tiny mosquito can spread many other diseases too such as Yellow fever, West Nile Fever, Zika Virus and Dengue Fever, to name but a few…

In this article we examine one of these serious diseases – Dengue Fever. Historically the meaning of the word is not too clear but is thought to come from a Swahili phrase meaning ‘’cramp-like seizure caused by an evil spirit’’.

The first recorded case of Dengue Fever was in a Chinese encyclopedia 265-420 AD stating that the disease can derive from ‘’poisonous water’’ connected with flying insects. The first Dengue fever outbreaks of this disease were in Asia, Africa and North America in the 1780s. A man named Benjamin Rush coined the name of the disease ‘’breakbone fever’’ because of the symptoms of very painful muscles and joints. Today Dengue Fever is present in the following areas of the world – South East Asia, the Caribbean, the Indian subcontinent, South and Central America, Africa, the Pacific Islands and Australia. In fact it is present in more than 100 countries and gives rise to almost 100 million cases of Dengue fever each year. So what so we know about this disease today? Well, it is spread by the bite of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.

This mosquito bites during the day, often early morning or in the early evening just before dusk. This is completely different to the malaria mosquito, who flies and bites during dusk to dawn. The Aedes aegypti mosquito can be found living around stagnant water storage tanks, old vehicle tyres and wells. Also, they spend some of their life time in and around houses and fly an average of 400 metres, moving speedily carrying the disease within and between communities. If you are travelling to the areas of the world listed earlier then you run the risk of getting Dengue Fever. The very best measures are adopting good bite avoidance measures.

These are to wear loose clothing, as mosquitoes can bite through tight fitting garments – so wear trousers, long sleeved tee-shirts, socks and shoes are best, sleep under a mosquito net and use insect repellent containing 50 per cent DEET. This is the ingredient that repels the mosquitoes. Also, try and stay away from areas or containers that hold stagnant water. There is presently no vaccine to prevent this disease and should you contract Dengue Fever there is no treatment. The disease, manifests itself as a very very bad flu, high temperature, severe headache, muscle and joint pain, nausea, loss of appetite and a rash.

Usually with rest, drinking plenty of plain fluids and pain relief the symptoms settle after several weeks. It is very important that if you are travelling to the countries mentioned you make every attempt to protect yourself from Dengue Fever, but should you come home from any of this destinations and feel unwell you should see your GP. He can then assess whether you have Dengue Fever or not. More details on Dengue Fever are easily found on who.int.

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