7 Steps To Help Avoid Dengue Fever

Dengue fever is a viral disease caused by the dengue virus. Diagnosis of dengue fever is sometimes difficult. Only laboratory tests can confirm that a patient has dengue fever. The symptoms and complications resemble those of many other diseases and the severity of infection makes early diagnosis and proper management essential. Some warning signs and symptoms of dengue include: high fever, severe headache, joint and muscle pains, eye pain, nausea, vomiting, rashes, bleeding from the gums or nose, dizziness, restlessness, difficulty in breathing, etc.

Although dengue fever is not as common in Asia as it is in the Americas, Asia still has large numbers of cases each year. Asia has seen major outbreaks in Taiwan, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

Keep yourself and your belongings dry

To prevent mosquito bites, you need to understand a few things about the insect. Mosquitoes are attracted to certain kinds of smells that they associate with food. This is why they love to bite people -- we have a lot of the things they like to eat, specifically blood.

Once a mosquito has chosen its target, it will follow the scent of your skin back and forth for about 5 feet. If you can keep yourself dry so that there's no scent trail to follow, the mosquito will lose interest and move on.

Protect yourself from mosquito bites

There is no vaccine to prevent dengue, so preventing mosquito bites is the only way to avoid it.

Dengue is transmitted by the bite of an infected female Aedes aegypti mosquito. The mosquito breeds in fresh water, particularly artificial containers such as buckets. They typically bite during the day, with peak biting times early morning and just after sunset.

The best form of prevention is to eliminate all sources of fresh water where the mosquitos can breed. If there are no suitable breeding grounds nearby, the risk of dengue transmission can be greatly reduced by applying insecticides to breeding sites or applying larvicides to standing water. Use repellents containing DEET (N, N-diethylmetatoluamide) on skin and permethrin on clothing.

Time your activities and movement

Time your activities to avoid the times of day when mosquitoes are most active.

They are most active early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Protect yourself with mosquito repellant. Use repellent that contain at least 20 percent DEET or PMD, picaridin or IR3535 for long-lasting protection. Apply to exposed skin and clothing rather than just to exposed skin. If you have a child less than 2 months old, ask a doctor of renowed multispeciality hospital before using insect repellant on child.

When outside, wear protective clothing

When traveling to countries where dengue fever is prevalent, it is important to take precautions. According to the World Health Organization, the best way to avoid dengue fever is to take preventive measures.

It is essential to wear clothing that minimizes skin exposure and use insect repellents on skin and clothing. It's also important to eliminate standing water around your home.

Wear long-sleeved shirts and trousers in light colors with hats and shoes that cover the ankles. Use a mosquito repellent containing DEET or other EPA-registered repellent as directed.

Keep rainwater harvesting systems clean and covered

Here are simple, practical steps that you can take in order to help protect yourself from contracting this viral infection when you are in an area where the disease is present:

* Cover your roof using mosquito netting or window screens to cover open windows. This will serve as protection against mosquitoes.

* Clean and check your rainwater harvesting system once every week so that any mosquito breeding sites will be eliminated. Water containers should also be covered with netting or screens.

* Make sure that all containers left outside are clean.

Beware of taking risks

We live in a society that considers it normal to spend all day unattended in a room with other people's children. We also spend much of our lives inside, breathing air that is recycled and recirculated and contains tiny particles of the bodies and bodily products of others. And we spend much of our time indoors during prime mosquito-breeding season.

All this has contributed to the explosive spread of dengue fever around the world. About 50 million people contract it each year, and about 25,000 die from it. It has spread from its original home in Southeast Asia to become endemic in over 100 countries. In the past decade it has appeared in New York City, Key West, Texas, and Hawaii -- or maybe it never really left Hawaii; we just didn't notice because there were no mosquitoes there before.

Avoid activities outdoors during dengue epidemics

Avoid activities outdoors during dengue epidemics. Dengue fever is caused by a virus transmitted by mosquitoes. It is present in more than 100 countries in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, including many popular tourist destinations. Dengue is a serious disease and a leading cause of illness and death among children living in areas where the infection is common.