Dengue: How to Avoid it? - Natural Health

Dengue fever is a viral infection that is transmitted through the Andes Mosquito. The infection can’t be transferred directly from one person to another, it needs Andes Mosquito as its medium. People with a weakened immune system get Dengue easily.

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Dengue spread at a faster rate in summer and rainy season than any other season. India’s weather with high temperature and moisture offers ideal condition to mosquitoes so they could breed and produce more mediums to spread Dengue. Dengue cases usually rise more in India in between the months of July to October as it is the Monsoon time in India. Every year, we find the increment in the numbers of the patients affected with dengue. India has the highest number of Dengue cases in the world. According to a report, 39% of world’s total Dengue cases happen in India. So controlling the exposure of mosquitoes to the humans is the best way we can avoid Dengue.

Signs and Symptoms of Dengue

Symptoms of Dengue usually begin in four to seven days after the infected mosquito’s bite. Dengue has flu-like symptoms and is a painful disease. Dengue fever causes a sudden and high fever and patient may feel one or more of the following issues.

You can feel a severe headache.
Pain behind the eyes.
Muscle and bone pain.
Swollen Glands.
Rashes on the body.
Nausea and Fatigue.
Vomiting.
Mild bleeding from the nose, gums, in vomiting or in the stool.

Diagnosis and Treatment for Dengue

Doctors diagnose Dengue infection by a blood test. There is no specific medicine that a doctor uses as a treatment for Dengue fever. Importantly, Doctors suggest avoiding medicine named ‘aspirin’. This could increase the risk of internal bleeding in patients. Don’t try to handle the situation on your own as the fever can get worse overnight. Consult the doctor as early as possible.

If the fever is mild:

Dehydration is very common during a high fever and vomiting. It is suggested that you should drink plenty of water and ORS and Rehydration salts are also useful in replacing fluids and minerals. Also, drink clean water and avoid drinking tap water.
Painkillers, like Tylenol or Paracetamol, are helpful in lowering the fever and ease the pain.

If it is more severe forms of dengue:

Hospitalization is necessary for the patient to be properly monitored, in case symptoms get worse. Doctors may suggest intravenous (IV) fluid supplementation, or drip if the person cannot take fluids by mouth. Blood transfusion is also done for patients with severe dehydration.

How to Avoid Dengue

As we mentioned earlier that till now we don’t have any strong and reliable vaccine to make us immune against Dengue so to avoid getting infected by Dengue virus is the best option to remain healthy.

Avoiding and preventing ourselves and our kids from the mosquitoes’ bite are the options we have to avoid Dengue. Here are the few ways to prevent our home and kids from Dengue.

Remove Mosquito Colonies

Open water is the best area for mosquitoes to breed. Look around your house, and if you find some water stored anywhere, try to clean that place. Change water of your cooler daily.

Do not water your plant excessively. Water stored in the plant can attract mosquitoes to breed. Keep your flower pot clean. Change the water of vases daily.
Keep toilet bowls and trash bin covered.
Keep all the water containers covered all the time.
If you find some path holes filled with water, put kerosene oil in it. This would stop mosquitoes to breed.
Drain temporary ponds of water.
Keep the water of swimming pool treated.

2. More Safety Tips

In summers, we all love cool breeze but when we open the windows and doors to let some fresh air come in, few unwanted guests also enter our house. Mosquitoes are one of them. To get rid of mosquitoes, cover your windows and doors with net screens. Before the starting of summers, get the net screens of your doors and windows repaired. Make your doors and windows bug tight.
Wear full sleeves clothes, especially when you go for a walk in a park. A park or a place with plants gives shelter to mosquitoes. So cover yourself up so they could not bite you and transfer the Dengue virus to you.
Air-conditioned rooms don’t welcome mosquitoes. Mosquitoes could not bear the low temperature. So if you find mosquitoes around, switch on the AC.
Dressing in light-colored clothes can also keep mosquitoes away.
The attack is the best defense, so kill the mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes love dark places to live in and corners of our rooms give mosquitoes an ideal place. To get rid of these small monsters, hiding in the corners, use pesticides once in a week. Don’t leave a single corner without spraying mosquitoes killing pesticide.
For small kids, you can use batches or stickers to keep mosquitoes away from them.
Apply mosquitoes repellent on your hands, faces and other body parts while going out of the house. Before applying mosquitoes repellent on your body, do check if this would be nice on your skin or not. To check this, you can take a minimum quantity of mosquitoes’ repellent, use it on the inside part of your elbow, keep it there for a night and if you don’t feel any itching or any burning sensation then this mosquito repellent is fine for your skin. And if you feel some sort of irritation, don’t use it. A repellent containing a maximum 10 % concentration of DEET is fine for your skin.
You can keep a Tulsi plant near to your window. The properties and smell of Tulsi plant keep mosquitoes away.
The smell of burning leaves of Neem also keeps mosquitoes away from the place where leaves are getting burned.

3. Neat and Clean Surrounding

Keep your surrounding neat and clean. Once a month, do check around your house for an empty container. If you find something then throw its water so that mosquitoes could not lay their eggs.

If any of your family members is suffering from Dengue, take some extra care. Cover the bed of sick person with a bug net. If mosquito will bite the sick person, the disease can be transmitted to other people of the family as well.

Conclusion

During the monsoon season, mosquitoes can also spread infectious diseases such as Dengue and Malaria. So, it is important that you keep an eye on the symptoms and if you find any similar symptom, consult a doctor as early as possible as this could save your life or the ones you love.