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
One of me dos and donts/thailand a while back also read something like: Do cover up and not let the mozzies bite you for the fun of it blaa blaa.
In all my time here especially at the beaches of Krabi/Phangan etc.. i have witnessed loadsa farang completely naive to how dangerous a mozzie bite can be and instead of covering up just instead spend the night swatting them away.
I have had dengue, it is certainly not a nice thing to catch, in fact it is a extremely nasty thing to catch and will wreck you for a week or so!
Pls remember too: Dengue can kill.
Hi.
I am coming to Thailand, Nahkon Sawan, To my Daughters wedding. I know the Mesquitos are Bad and I am thinking of not going…..Could you tell me all of the best ways to protect myself or should I stay away. The wedding is May 21, start of the rainy season…..
Thanks
Jeff
Hi Jeff. My purpose wasn’t to scare you but to warn you to be careful. There are 60 million people in Thailand and about 10 million tourists. Two deaths out of that many people is pretty small. I am sure more people die in your homecountry from just crossing the road every day. Does that mean you will stop crossing the road? No, of course not. Go to Thailand. Enjoy your daughter’s wedding. (BTW, is it a Buddhist wedding?)
Of course, take sensible precautions – use a spray or light a mosquito coil. They are very cheap and can be bought everyhwere. If you want to have some fun at the wedding then buy a mosquito zapper for about US$2. It is like a short tennis bat. I wrote a blog about it last month.
I will do a review later of different ways to kill mosquitoes or at least how to scare them away. But to be honest with you, I have never bought any expensive equipment for this and I have hardly ever used mosquito spray on my body. There just isn’t that many mosquitoes in my house!
hello …
please am looking to spend a week in Thailand to
enjoy the sonkran,,,,
Just i would like to know which are the most areas
that have these kind of masqitoes..??
thank you….
Hussain – Chiang Mai is probably the best place for Sonkran, and the mosquito problem is low, though you should follow Richard`s advice above and also stay away from the Ping River.
Right now there is a shortage of water in Thailand which should help cut down on the number of mosquitos, they need puddles and other forms of static water -ponds etc, to breed.
Keeping fish in your lotus pots will help control the mosquito egg problem. Fish eat eggs qed no mozzies!
Dear Visitors,
Mosquitoes are common in most tropical countries. Although, there are many species of mosquitoes but only some of them transmit diseases. Different species of mosquitoes live in different habitats and seek for blood meals at different time. To avoid being bitten by mosquitoes, application of insect repellent may be necessary and useful in certain condition. Please kindly note that insect repellent containing DEET as the active ingredient shall not be used with children under 4 years old. Wash your hands after use. Also, be careful with mosquito coils, use them only in good ventilated areas and remember to wash your hands after handling. They contain chemicals! You know, not all mosquitoes are bad. Some species are useful and we use them in biological control.
Wishing you lots of fun and wonderful moments in Thailand.
Check out this introduction article on Dengue_fever:
Dengue_fever
we want work with ur
Hi! I have read some articles on dengue and how kids from the ages of 5 to 15 are affected the greatest. Is the dengue education program still in progress in schools through out Thailand?
Kids tend to play more outdoors and it makes sense that they would be at a higher risk. Kids think more of playing than about catching dengue fever. I understand that the months of May through October are the months when dengue fever is most prevalent and July being the peak month that kids are infected. A logical process for this could be in my opinion is that for one, the mesquite that carries dengue is most active during the day and that is the time that kids are out playing. While in schools kids go to recess in the late morning or early afternoon. The kids produce a large amount of carbon dioxide that is expelled through their breath this is what attracts the Aedes mosquito.
I would like to know if the children’s time is shorted for recess outdoors or if they play in the outdoors at all while in school?
When kids are released from school are they held indoors till a parent comes for them or do they walk home?
Are kids held out side in groups in rural and urban before they are released?
Do the kids walk home in large groups?
Please let me know if possible some of the answers to my questions.
Thank You.
Thailand is the South East Asia Area, dengue mosquito is very dangerous but we can protect away
Amazing job.. I will require a decent amount of time to think over this writing!!