dengue fever
 

Hi, All -
So, I'm living here with my hubby and young kids, and I'd never heard about dengue fever until this past week. Now I'm a little worried about it! Do a lot of people get it? Do any of you sleep under nets or anything? Have any of your kids gotten it?

Any experiences/advice would help (especially that which will ease my anxiety)!

Thanks -

Re: dengue fever
 

Hi there,

From reading medicineNet.com, it appears that it is caught from mosquito bites.

Symptoms include headache, fever, and muscuar pain, and although it has been known to be fatal, fatalities only occur in less than 1% of cases.

The recovery time is a couple of weeks and once you gotten it once it does provide you with immunity to contracting it again.

Im sure you'll all be fine though because it appears to be rare cases also.

All the best Diane.

Re: dengue fever
 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue_fever#Prevention

Primary prevention of dengue mainly resides in mosquito control. There are two primary methods: larval control and adult mosquito control.[citation needed] In urban areas, Aedes mosquitos breed on water collections in artificial containers such as plastic cups, used tires, broken bottles, flower pots, etc. Periodic draining or removal of containers is the most effective way of reducing the breeding grounds for mosquitos.[citation needed] Larvicide treatment is another effective way to control the vector larvae, but the larvicide chosen should be long-lasting and preferably have World Health Organization clearance for use in drinking water. There are some very effective insect growth regulators (IGRs) available which are both safe and long-lasting (e.g., pyriproxyfen). For reducing the adult mosquito load, fogging with insecticide is somewhat effective.[citation needed]

Prevention of mosquito bites is another way of preventing disease. This can be achieved by using insect repellent, mosquito traps or mosquito nets

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue_fever#Prevention

Re: dengue fever
 

Hi Bakergirl - I have had dengue twice (there are 4 strains) so could give you some info but at the same time you say you want to relieve your anxiety. I can tell you my experiences but if you are already worried they might not be of help. However i do feel that knowledge is power and knowing the real deal helps you to plan for it.

Let me know if you do want my experiences (and of another who had it) and am happy to tell you

The good news is that Barbados is very very very active in reducing the cases of Dengue and the ministry of health are very focussed on smogging and tracing sources of any issues

Re: dengue fever
 

Thanks, all.

It is good to know that Barbados is really active in reducing the cases. I live in the rural area, so I hope they're as active out here as they are in the more populated areas.

Yeah, I guess knowing the "real deal" is the best way to be prepared. How was it, Serendipity?

Re: dengue fever
 

Ok the facts I have been presented with are there are 4 strains of dengue

Once a strain has been caught then you are immune from it in the future - although i recently heard that some say its only for up to the following 5 years.

Many people may have had Dengue but written it off as Flu cos one of the strains is very similar to flu ie aching muslces and fever etc. If you have a weak immune system for any reason (ie i previously had glandular fever so my system is weak) then it can hit you harder. The episodes usually start with bites that swell into boils/bruise size -they dont look like normal bites as ya skin swells more. Both times i contracted Dengue whilst at places overlooking the sea ie a bar or a rural walk. Dengue can only officially be diagnosed via a blood test which you have to pay for but doctors and hospital both told me i was exhibiting classic symptoms and then when i thought it was all over i rang my local pharmacy as had sickness/diahorrea and he said thats classic of strain 2 Dengue - starts with a rash (face hands and chest) and fever and achy joints then you recover for a few days then get hit with sickness. The other episode of dengue I had been hit on the back of head by one of those huge beach umbrellas (im so lucky with my health init lol) and after a few days I went to the hospital as thought it was concussion but they said nope you got dengue - they can tell by the bites i think which happen about 8-10 days before the symptoms present themselves.

So now I only have two strains left to encounter lol. However one of the other strains is potentially lethal - especially to young children (hence my asking if you really want the info). A neighbour contracted that strain on a complex i lived this was my first knowledge of dengue. She ended up hospitalised on a drip. The effects were complete sensitivity to light - extreme pain in joints and a terrible thirst. The key thing with this is to get to a hospital especially if its a child and in the past week they have had bad bites.

When i was diagnosed with my 2nd bout of Dengue i contacted the ministry of health to find out why they werent fogging very often any more - this was a few years back - on the first mention of Dengue they were in my area 9am the next morning to look for possible sources - lol they never even asked me where i contracted it but it was comforting to know there were so many of them checking for any sources.

The last 2 years i have had no issues but im really careful about using my SSS from Avon. Both times i contracted Dengue i had forgotten to use it.

Hope my experiences - although they may not be cheerful - may help you to prepare against it

Dips x

Re: dengue fever
 

Dengue was around for a very long time in Barbados.

Re: dengue fever
 

Serendipity, you mentioned that the ministry of health came out to inspect the area when you reported your having dengue.
Well, just since the weekend (I'm guessing because of the return of the rain over the past week) I have noticed alot of the mosquitos with the black and white legs and I have also gotten a number of bites from the little blighters!! Anyway, I was just wondering if the ministry of health would come out to fog if I just reported the presence of the mossies (I haven't got dengue thank god....yet!!)
Did you speak to someone in particular, or is it just best to call their general phone number.
Also would it be an over reaction to call about this, seeing as I haven't got any sickness.
Obviously, my bajan friends and family seem pretty non-plused by the presence of the mossies, but I just thought I'd get the view from you guys.

Re: dengue fever
 

No your not over reacting they have a team that focus on just doing this as they really are serious about keeping the occurences of Dengue down - remember this can be a fatal disease especially for small children - dont have any doubt in calling them - even to just ask when they will fog again cos you keep seeing the aegis(?) mossie around.

I called their general number and asked to speak to someone about fogging i think

Re: dengue fever
 

Thanks Serendipity. I must give them a call. I actually saw a notice in todays Advocate saying that they will be fogging this evening somewhere in St. Thomas, I think...... So they are obviously actively fogging at the moment. It would be great to get them to come this way. I've already been bitten about 6 times since the weekend and each time it was the Aegis mosquito. I hope I don't get dengue!!..... I really must get a mosquito net, the repellant just doesn't seem to deter this particular breed!!...... And I thought I was safe by now, having gotten used to the regular mosquitos bites!!

Re: dengue fever
 

if you report an over abundance of mossies, they will come.. My suggestion to you is to make sure you have nothing that has standing water:.. pots, bowls, whatever. (even the slightest little thing. you would be surprised) dump it all out if so.. use Bop or Baygon and spray what you can. We have fogging trucks that come into our area once a year.. they never come up our road (it private, but it's not, if that makes sense) so they fog every where else and the little buggers come running to our house.

good luck.