Be aware of spreading DENGUE FEVER ....

In Cambodia and especially some rural parts of Thailand DENGUA FIEVER is something travellers need to be aware of.

In Cambodia, presently around 35 000 people are infected; about 350 have died already this year.

In Thailand more than 40 000 cases had been reported; 65 people died already this year.

Dengue Fever is a plague which returns usually with the monsoon season. The moist grounds are perfect for breeding mosquitoes, which are spreading the fever.

Dengue fever is a viral infection with can be very painful. After a initial incubation period of 7 and 10 days the infection is fully blown. At first it looks likes a common influenza. Be very careful and consult any hospital or doctor's clinic for further examination and possible treatment.

I spray all exposed area with 7% DEET mosquito repellent when I am in Pattaya but not Bangkok :bounce:

... to avoid Pattaya!
I spray all exposed area with 7% DEET mosquito repellent when I am in Pattaya but not Bangkok

[adman5000]

I think on my next trip to Thailand I am going to buy one of those portable bug zappers. I was very surprised at the heavy problem in the May-June time frame of my last trip. I stayed in an area where another individual caught dengue while I was there, then was hurting in the hospital for over a week, and then home to rest for another week. The local government even came by and sprayed several times for mosquitoes. so this year it seemed like they came earlier and dengue was therefore more widespread. I found wearing long lightweight pants was quite helpful since these mosquitoes bite mostly during the day and seemed to go for the legs.
Has anyone else used the bug zappers that look like a badminton racket?

I'm goiung to Udon Thani again in a couple of weeks from now. What precautions should I take?

I spray all exposed area with 7% DEET mosquito repellent when I am in Pattaya but not Bangkok :bounce:

There is dengue fever in bangkok as well

[ned kelly-old]

Dengue fever can be a problem in Australia as well, there are frequently outbreaks in North Queensland. Advice here indicates that the Dengue Mosquito almost invariably bites during the day and is almost always an inside dweller, your own house or apartment being the most likely place. Of course they need a water source to breed, but this can as insignificant as a saucer under a pot plant.
The fever is almost always attributed to a particular type of mossie, which if you get close enough has markings that look like white stripes.
Bangkok is no less immune than Pattaya and it would be prudent to adopt the same sensible precautions anywhere in the tropics/sub-tropics particularly during the wet season.

I stayed in an area where another individual caught dengue while I was there

What area of Pattaya are we talking about?

......
Has anyone else used the bug zappers that look like a badminton racket?

Yeah! They're real fun esp. in the dark when the lights are out. They had them at PJ's Place in Chiang Mai. BF and I had loads of fun with them when there was nothing on TV.

TZZAPP

:violent3:

[adman5000]

It was not Pattaya. It was an area about one-two hours away.

Dengue fever can be a problem in Australia as well, there are frequently outbreaks in North Queensland. Advice here indicates that the Dengue Mosquito almost invariably bites during the day and is almost always an inside dweller, your own house or apartment being the most likely place. Of course they need a water source to breed, but this can as insignificant as a saucer under a pot plant.
The fever is almost always attributed to a particular type of mossie, which if you get close enough has markings that look like white stripes.
Bangkok is no less immune than Pattaya and it would be prudent to adopt the same sensible precautions anywhere in the tropics/sub-tropics particularly during the wet season.

Yes its a bit like playing Russian roulette, there isn't much you can do, we have dengue in Hong Kong and we have wild boars in the bottom of the garden and many rodent species (natural reservoirs) and as you say they are a day Mosquito, so its just not practical to be smothered in repellant all the time. But on holiday you can avoid certain areas, damp shady areas are the worst, so don't linger near them, find open areas to rest. Any covered or partialy covered areas, under thick shady trees, junk yards, informal settlements, partialy open drain areas and swampy ground are all hot spots. Mosquitoes breed in anything from flower pots to the axils of leaves, old tyres, air-con drainage pools/trays, fruit peels, coconut shells, plastic sheeting, flower petals and bracts etc, so it's just pots luck. I have found on windy days and during a shower of rain itself there are hardly any about and in th dry season. Travelling in the dry season in fact is better for almost every area.

Hill stations are a good place to get away from them for awhile. Not all striped day mosquitos carry Dengue of course, but you find them almost right across SE Asia, in almost every town village or city, rural or urban, even as far as Southern China and Australia. Its only If there is a localised epidemic that the chances of you catching it are dramatically increased, so it helps knowing this when you plan a trip as it is passed very easily from one person to the next via the mozzy.

It was not Pattaya. It was an area about one-two hours away.

Are you going to leave me guessing then, where was it?

Actually, dengue is originally from Africa. As you can see, not all imports are really useful.

With global warmings, areas infected with dengue are widening every years.

What you can do:

1. Eat really spicy food. Mosquitoes do not like certain chillies. They like smell of cheeses.
2. Do not use any perfumes or other smelly stuff. This might attract the beasts. Just use ordinary cheap soap and pleny of water.
3. Do not sit outside one hour before or after sun sets or sun raises. Avoid light since the beasts love it.
4. Keep your windows and doors shoot during evenings or mornings and turn off lights including TV before opening doors or windows.
5. Cover your body, wear socks, long trousers (which a called short trousers in Thailand) shirts with long sleeves.
6. Prefer airy places. Best is shipping around the Golf of Thailand.
7. Stay away from open places with anything wet nearby. This might include beach cruisings.
8. Use Thai made insect repellents like Skeletons. Autan and the other foreign stuff is useless in Thailand, the beasts know them all.
9. Do not stay outside of cities since medicine can run out in smaller towns after an outburst of dengue. This includes especially border areas since many people from Laos or Myanmar are using Thai hospitals for treatment.

Pray, burn candles and all the other stuff they have at temples. If it doesn’t help against mosquito’s you might you feel better afterwards. I haven't seen many mosquitos at temples yet.

Famous Carnival of Lim├▓n east cost, the number one festival in Costa Rica has been canceled for 2007 due to dangers of dengue fever.

The ministry of health, San Jos├и, Costa Rica cancelled the fete due to the fact that more than 5 000 people are already infected and about 160 peoples died on dengue fever. Unsafe sanitary conditions are blamed as perfect breeding grounds for mosquito's carrying the virus to humans.

Is this a problem in late November also?

, there are no monsoons, well in certain areas, like BKK and Pattaya, not sure on the North and the far South, therefore, it should be less of a risk.

Do you know I have never met anyone who has Malaria but several friends have had Dengue fever and it can be very nasty and painful. You should go to hospital and stay there. There can be a danger that you seem to get well but your immune system has crashed and then it resurges and for children and frail elderly this is when it can be fatal.

There are a number of points on this trail which I think are inaccurate or misleading.

The Aedes mosquito which carries Dengue is a daytime mosquito which favours and urban environment. None of the people that I know had it knew when they were bitten so use of the bat to kill is not relevant.

Mozzies can bite through clothing.

I found Sketolene with DEET, Autan and all DEET products work well but often small bad. Jaico roll on from Belgium smalls very nice and is 24% DEET. It is widely available in Thailand at about 200 baht.

Dengue fever is growing rapidly throughout the world.

"MD Travel Health advice on Dengue Fever

Dengue fever, a flu-like illness sometimes complicated by hemorrhage or shock, is highly prevalent in Thailand. The number of cases usually peaks during the rainy season (ranging from May through November), when mosquitoes proliferate. As of September 2007, more than 40,000 dengue cases had been reported nationwide for the year, including 47 deaths. The number of dengue cases appeared to rise earlier than usual, due to early, heavy rains. A dengue outbreak was reported from Phuket in August 2007, resulting in at least two deaths. In May 2007, an outbreak was reported from Trat province, 400 km southeast of Bangkok on the Cambodian border, and in the southernmost provinces along the Malaysian border. In August 2006, the provinces of Kamphaeng Phet, Nakhon Sawan, Phichit and Uthai Thani were declared dengue "alert zones" by the Ministry of Public Health because of a large number of cases (more than a thousand) being reported from these provinces (see Thailand Ministry of Public Health). A dengue outbreak was reported from Surin Province in July 2006 and from Ampur Mae Sareang in June 2006. Earlier in the year, a dengue outbreak was reported from Chaiyaphum Province. In April 2002, a unusually large number of cases was reported among travelers to southern Thailand, especially the island of Koh Pha Ngan. Dengue is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, which bite primarily in the daytime and favor densely populated areas, though they also inhabit rural environments. No vaccine is available at this time. Insect protection measures are strongly advised, as outlined below.

Insect protection

Wear long sleeves, long pants, hats and shoes (rather than sandals). For rural and forested areas, boots are preferable, with pants tucked in, to prevent tick bites. Apply insect repellents containing 20-35% DEET (N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide) or 20% picaridin (Bayrepel) to exposed skin (but not to the eyes, mouth, or open wounds). DEET may also be applied to clothing. Products with a lower concentration of either repellent need to be reapplied more frequently. Products with a higher concentration of DEET carry an increased risk of neurologic toxicity, especially in children, without any additional benefit. Do not use either DEET or picaridin on children less than two years of age. For additional protection, apply permethrin-containing compounds to clothing, shoes, and bed nets. Don't sleep with the window open unless there is a screen. If sleeping outdoors or in an accomodation that allows entry of mosquitoes, use a bed net, preferably impregnated with insect repellent, with edges tucked in under the mattress. The mesh size should be less than 1.5 mm. If the sleeping area is not otherwise protected, use a mosquito coil, which fills the room with insecticide through the night. In rural or forested areas, perform a thorough tick check at the end of each day with the assistance of a friend or a full-length mirror. Ticks should be removed with tweezers, grasping the tick by the head. Many tick-borne illnesses can be prevented by prompt tick removal.

http://www.mdtravelhealth.com/destinati ... and.html#4 (http://www.mdtravelhealth.com/destinations/asia/thailand.html#4)

[Smiles]

" ... What area of Pattaya are we talking about? ... "


Dengue Fever is a mosquito-spread disease which is ubiquitously prevalent in tropical countries ... some more so than others.
Take reasonable precautions against mosquito bites in the same way you would in any other tropical location (talk to your family doctror) . . . not necessarily more or less than for other mosquito-spread disease.

If you get it ... you'll get sick for awhile. Go to the nearest hospital.
But the chances of dropping dead from Dengue Fever is very very low. My guy got it about 3 or 4 years ago ... it was as nasty as, well ~ a nasty case of the flu. He sucked it up . . . and so should you.

As per usual ... Ttom is doing a fine job as the Board's resident Drama Queen: If he would have his way, between the deathly scourge of Dengue Fever and the moral horrors of Pedophilia, I'm surprised that we are all still on this earth.

Cheers ...


PS ... edited profanity. Unecessary.

PS ... please pardon the one-too-many "fuckings" in my post on this. Ttom is ~ in general (and IMHO), with his copy&paste Hot News ~ becoming more and more tedious & ridiculous as time goes by.


Yup.


G.