We and mosquitoes

One of my friends called me last week and said ‘he was diagnosed with dengue’. Yesterday, one of my colleagues contracted Chikungunya. If you happen to read a newspaper (any newspaper of any day) you will get to see the count of patients attacked by dengue and chikungunya.

This blockbuster disease is Directed and Distributed by Mosquitoes! This disease is crowd funded by people at large and consolidated by city corporations and municipalities! It has global presence, running house full in 110 countries.

I understand that dengue is caused by mosquitoes during the monsoon season. These mosquitoes bite during the day, especially between 4 and 6 pm in the evening.

It is said that the breeding of these mosquitoes mostly happen in places where water is stagnant, for example, parks! (Preventive Care Tips 1 – avoid going to parks and public places in the evening)

Is this true that mosquitoes bite people wearing dark blue or black clothes? I suppose, it is true! (Preventive Care Tips -2 – if going out during the evening is inevitable, try to wear light colored clothes!)

You can also choose full sleeve clothes, shoes and socks! Bundle your style for a while (at least during the monsoon season!) and wear such clothes that prevent mosquito bites

If you are going to estates or parks (or places where a lot of water or greenery is there) or city centre (normally where a lot of filth is accumulated), you can choose to apply Odomus or its equivalent and go. (Beware! Who knows, one government department will wake up after 100 crores of people start using and announce that they are ‘not good for skin’)

Those who are at home can close the windows and doors between 5 and 7 pm in the evening. Mosquitoes give an entry to the scene in the evening hours for evening and night shows! (Preventive Tips -3- Shut the door and offer only morning and noon shows!)

At home, instead of mosquito coil, liquid repellant (some advertisements say – 3 times stronger! It kills the mosquitoes instantly – my question is what about human beings!!!), one can use mosquito bats. Now you can find bats similar to a tennis racquet (a miniature of course), with a price ranging from Rs.100 to Rs.300. (same bat but the price differs depending on where you buy)

(Note – It is 10 years since I have been using a bat. Initially, the bats where not so sophisticated, it was not that user friendly. Today you can see fancy bats! Now it has a torch also. Friends, mark my words, in the coming years you will find mosquito bats with FM Radio! Or you may also have mobile phones which can kill mosquitoes!)

At home, you can try to empty buckets and containers which are exposed outside such as terrace, garden, flower pots, balcony etc. Did you know that mosquitoes can lay up to 300 eggs at a time!

Try to fix mosquito nets to windows and use bed nets. Now you get fancy nets (It is a big industry thanks to mosquitoes)

By chance (sorry, bad luck) you get fever, don’t try ‘crocin’ or self medication. Visit the general physician immediately. While at the doctor’s clinic, apart from narrating the symptoms, also recall about ‘any mosquito bites’ in the previous days. If so, inform him and as per his advice, get blood check done. (Don’t neglect)

Some of my friends have told me that ‘white mosquitoes’ cause dengue. Friends, tell me (if you know) how to identify its color? Mosquito is a Spanish word, meaning ‘little fly’. It is a little fly and you can’t catch it. You can catch/kill only after it grows after sucking your blood. (It can drink up to 3 times its weight in blood)

Is dengue or chikungunya like conjunctivitis? Will it spread from person to person? Is it safe to visit a person attacked with dengue? No problem, it won’t spread from person to person. But be aware, if a mosquito biting a person with dengue, bites you in turn, it may spread!

About Chikungunya – Is it an Indian name? As per World Health Organization (WHO) it is a mosquito-borne viral disease first described during an outbreak in southern Tanzania in 1952. The name “chikungunya” is derived from a word in the Kimakonde language, meaning “to become contorted”, and describes the stooped appearance of sufferers with joint pain.

About Dengue – Dengue is caused due to the bite of an infected female aedes aegypti mosquito. The disease can be fatal. It is in existence since 1779. The number of cases of dengue fever has increased dramatically since the 1960s, with between 50 and 528 million people infected yearly. (Trust me, now that it has major presence in India, the count will increase in geometric progression)

The corporations and municipalities publish an advertisement about the ‘precautions to be taken against dengue or so’ as an annual ritual. But friends, in India, the urbanization is happening like crazy without any proper arrangements/facility for water, drainage and garbage. You get world-class apartments and villas, fancy cars, glossy malls and air-conditioned offices. But once you are out on the road, you will also get open drains, accumulated filth, unattended garbage (for weeks) and unhygienic eating joints.

We have to live for 100 years (at 100% efficiency), but these mosquitoes have a short life of 10 days to 2 months, they have nothing to lose! So friends, let us keep ourselves aware about the disease and take as much care as we can. Despite this, if mosquitoes choose us as their clients, we have to pay for their service!

Thought for the day

Take care of your body. It is the only place you have to live.  

Please follow and like us: