Parenting] Dengue Fever

Taiwan is located in the subtropical region, such a hot and humid environment is the favorite growing environment for mosquitoes, so if you are not careful, it will easily become an area where dengue fever is prevalent.

Dengue fever is an acute infectious disease caused by the dengue virus, which is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes. The virus is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes and is divided into four types, I, II, III, and IV, according to different serotypes of the virus, each of which has the ability to infect and cause disease.

Transmission method:

The dengue virus is not directly transmitted from person to person. Instead, it is transmitted to a person who is bitten by a vector mosquito that carries the dengue virus and develops the disease after an incubation period of about 3 to 8 days (up to 14 days). During the onset of the disease, the dengue virus is already present in the blood of the patient. If the patient is bitten by a vector mosquito, the dengue virus will proliferate in the vector mosquito for 8 to 12 days, which will not only make the vector mosquito capable of transmitting the dengue virus for the rest of its life, but also cause dengue fever in other healthy people when it bites them again.

The main dengue vector mosquitoes in Taiwan are Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, which are characterized by black bodies and white spots on the feet. Aedes aegypti has a pair of seven-stringed longitudinal lines on both sides of its chest and a pair of yellow longitudinal lines in the middle, and it prefers to inhabit indoor artificial containers or places where water accumulates caused by human beings, while Aedes albopictus has a white and obvious longitudinal line in the middle of its mid-thoracic tatting plate area, and prefers to inhabit outdoor areas. The peak time of the day for biting is about 1-2 hours after sunrise and 2-3 hours before sunset, so you should pay special attention when you go out!

Prevention Methods:

Dengue fever is a "community disease" and "environmental disease", and vector mosquitoes are not selective about who they bite. Once the dengue virus enters the community and there are breeding sources of vector mosquitoes around the living environment, there is a possibility of dengue fever epidemics, therefore, the public should do a good job in removing breeding sources of vector mosquitoes in the course of their lives. In addition, the public should be more alert and aware of the symptoms of dengue fever. Apart from seeking early medical treatment, early diagnosis and appropriate treatment, the public should also avoid being bitten by vector mosquitoes in order to minimize the possibility of dengue virus recirculation.

(i) Home prevention for the general public:
You should install screen windows and doors at home, and hang mosquito nets when you sleep to avoid mosquito bites. Remove unwanted containers and put unused vases and containers upside down. In the dark places of your home or basement, you can spray qualified hygiene medicine or use mosquito trapping lamps. Vases and water containers should be cleaned weekly, and the inside should be scrubbed. Remove abandoned tires and water containers from outdoor areas immediately, and ask the cleaning team to transport those that can't be disposed of. When going outdoors to markets or parks on weekdays, it is advisable to wear light-colored, long-sleeved clothing and to apply anti-mosquito liquid (cream) to exposed areas of the skin.

(b) The four tips for removing breeding sources - "inspect, pour, clean and brush":
1. "Inspect" - Inspect frequently and carefully any containers inside or outside your home that may accumulate water.
2. "Pour" - Pour out the accumulated water, and sort or put away the unwanted objects.
3. "Clean" - Reduce the number of containers and leave the utensils clean.
4. "Brush"-remove the eggs of mosquitoes, pack up or invert the water to avoid accumulating mosquitoes.

(c) Things that people infected with dengue fever should do:
(Control of patients, contacts and the surrounding environment)
If a patient is suspected to be infected with dengue fever, the patient should be notified to the local health authorities. Patients should be prevented from being bitten by vector mosquitoes within 5 days after the onset of the disease, and their wards should be fitted with screened windows, screened doors, or sprayed with mosquito killers, and they should sleep under mosquito nets. Epidemic prevention units should carry out mandatory removal of breeding sources in the vicinity, and implement chemical pest control measures if necessary after comprehensive study and assessment based on relevant information. Dengue fever patients may be surrounded by vector mosquitoes, so the travel history (or access to places) of patients 2 weeks before and 1 week after the onset of the disease should be investigated to confirm whether there are suspected cases.
Treatment and medical information: Since there is no specific drug to treat dengue fever, patients infected with dengue fever must follow the doctor's instructions, rest, drink plenty of fluids, and take fever-reducing medication in a timely manner, which can usually cure itself in about two weeks after infection.
In addition, for more serious patients, "supportive therapy" is generally used, which means providing patients with antibiotics or injecting nutritional fluids and other medications to help patients infected with dengue fever to recover their strength or strengthen their resistance.