How to Prevent Dengue Fever in Your Neighborhood

Dengue chooses no victim. Here's how you can protect you and your family and keep those dangerous mosquitoes at bay.

Dengue fever is a vector-borne disease most common in tropical regions, specifically in Southeast Asia. But even if you live in the western hemisphere, learning how to rid your environment of the causative factors can help eliminate other potential vectors, as well. An infected female Aedes aegypti, a mosquito, is responsible for the transmission of the deadly dengue virus.

Internal bleeding is the usual manifestation of the disease as patients’ platelets become significantly low, rendering them unable to clot blood properly. The goal of prevention is to reduce the existing mosquito population. This can effectively be done by destroying potential breeding grounds, as well as killing live ones. Here are some useful ways to prevent dengue.

1. Breeding ground.

Destroy all potential breeding places for the mosquitoes. Since they thrive in environments with stagnant water sources, you should be able to detect these. Take away all sources of standing water, like vases, basins, pails or even cups. If a water source remains stagnant for more than a week, it will likely be inhabited by mosquitoes sooner or later. Sewage and drainage systems must be covered at all times. These also must have a constant flow of water to flush out eggs and mating mosquitoes.

2. Fogging.

This technique is very much the same as spraying your house with insecticide. Fogging kills more mosquitoes, including eggs that haven’t hatched yet. It usually involves insecticide components diluted in water as a machine bombards the gases to potential breeding grounds. Recent technological developments have made it possible for humans to be unaffected by the fog due to less harmful ingredients. Newer versions only poison mosquitoes.

3. Tree planting.

Some species of plants are known to expel natural gases or components that mosquitoes despise. The neem tree is a good example of this. In tropical regions, there has been mass implementation of tree planting in order to battle dengue. These species of trees also grow quickly in less than two years and will have immediate beneficial effects on the environment.

4. Time.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is usually active during the day and returns to its habitat just before dusk. It would be wise that people steer clear of unknown environments during the active hours to prevent transmission. Also, it is recommended that people enter the potential breeding grounds late in the afternoon just before dusk to implement the precautionary measures to eliminate mosquitoes.

5. Ward.

Several methods are also available to effectively ward off mosquitoes. You can wear long-sleeved clothing and turtlenecks to keep your extremities and neck from insect bites. A mosquito net may also come in handy during the day. At best, apply mosquito repellant on exposed skin areas to keep all insects at bay.

There is no vaccine or cure for the disease, since it is a virus. Supportive treatment is the best that you can do for anyone who has the condition. Children and infants should be extra careful as they have weaker immune responses compared to adults.

Author: Julieta Chin. All rights reserved.