A woman walks past a poster warning against mosquito-borne viruses in Bangkok. An explosion of dengue fever in Thailand since the start of the year has health officials warning occurrences of the disease, already up 75 percent over the same period last year.(AFP/File/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)
If you are planning on visiting Thailand during the wet season (coming soon) then you should be careful not to get Dengue Fever. This disease is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito called Aedes aegypti. In the first two months of this year, two people have died in Thailand and 2,769 people have become infected. The number of infections is 75% greater than the same period last year so the government are warning the public to be careful during the approaching wet season.
HOW TO PREVENT MOSQUITO BITES:
Dengue mosquitoes bite during the daytime. Protect yourself from the bite.
(1) Wear full sleeve clothes and long dresses to cover the limbs;
(2) Repellent – care should be taken in using repellents on small children and the elderly;
(3) Use mosquito coils and electric vapour mats during the daytime to prevent Dengue;
(4) Use mosquito nets – to protect babies, old people and others, who may rest during the day. Curtains can also be treated with insecticide and hung at windows or doorways, to repel or kill mosquitoes.
(5) Protection of people sick with dengue – Mosquitoes become infected when they bite people who are sick with dengue. Mosquito nets and mosquito nets and mosquito coils will effectively prevent mosquitoes from biting sick people and help stop the spread of dengue
RECOGNITION OF DENGUE FEVER
The first symptoms of the disease occur about 5-7 days after an infected bite.
* Sudden onset of high fever
* Severe headache (mostly in the forehead)
* Pain behind the eyes which worsens with eye movement
* Body aches and joint pains
* Nausea or vomiting
Mosquitoes like to rest in cool dark places. I always bang out my black sneakers before putting them on as there are usually half a dozen mosquitoes in each shoe. The female mosquito lays her eggs in water containers around the house. These eggs become adults in about 10 days. So, I will have to pay particular attention to the plant saucers and buckets around the back which might get filled when it rains. I also have a large water bowl with lotuses which I will need to keep an eye on. I did discover some mosquito eggs a month ago which I managed to kill with some powder. Obviously as this is a serious threat I will need to be more diligent.
Sources of information: World Health Organization web site and MCOT Thai News Agency
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