Question from Susie in New Jersey:
With your experience, what do you think people should do to prevent contracting Dengue Fever? Our cousin got it…and was sick for a long time. He’s a big guy and had a fever and chills even while in the hot sun on the beach. Even after he returned to Switzerland, he was not quite right…I’ve packed in Deep Woods Off with 25% DEET. Is this effective against Dengue? My husband is a mosquito magnet so I’m concerned to say the least.
Answer:
When you are a traveler, there is only one variable that you have control over: your own actions. I do recommend Deep Woods Off very highly. However, whenever possible, you should don light-coloured long sleeve shirts, long trousers, thick socks such as bobby socks and shoes. The Dengue mosquito is strictly a day-biting mosquito, which does not make these precautions mandatory at night.
Of course, they are still useful after dark since there are other types of mosquitoes that become active then. However, as far as Dengue is concerned, as soon as the sun goes down, the threat goes to “sleep” with the Dengue mosquitoes. In other words, if you are bitten at night, it would not be the Aedes aegypti mosquito. And those other mosquitoes I speak of are merely nuisance pests, nothing more.
According to the National Biological Information Infrastructure the West Nile virus (WNV) was first detected in the Western Hemisphere in 1999 and has since rapidly spread across the North American continent into all 48 continental states, seven Canadian provinces, and throughout Mexico. In addition, WNV activity has been detected in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Guadeloupe and El Salvador. (Source: http://www.mommypr.com/?p=8450)
