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paulette & Chuck

Dec 15, 2006, 11:47 AM

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Mosquito paranoia, dengue, and deet

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Thank you for all of your answers in my previous thread regarding dengue, malaria, etc. Frankly, I have been getting a little paranoid regarding dengue-- with all of the rain, el nortes,...-- we will be camping, we plan on being outside a lot. We are prepared to deet up -- but hope that this doesn't interfere with our good times. I've never been much for repellents ( should've used them in Tenacatita last year for the jejenes, but didn't) Chuck loves to wear shorts all of the times. So, I guess I'm asking-- those of you who live in the area, how bad is it right now? We plan on getting there mid January. Should I be as worried as I am? I still haven't decided about the malaria meds, but that doesn't seem to be as serious as the dengue risk.
Freakin' out a little!
Thanks for all of your input.

Paulette

Bubba

Dec 15, 2006, 3:18 PM

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Re: [paulette & Chuck] Mosquito paranoia, dengue, and deet

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Pauletted:

We just returned from the isthmus of Oaxaca around Juchitan and Tehunatepec and found this to be no problem. You seem to be overly concerned.

yucatandreamer

Dec 15, 2006, 3:28 PM

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Re: [paulette & Chuck] Mosquito paranoia, dengue, and deet

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I live in Merida, I have been bitten many many times in the night and in the daytime, in the city and in the country. I hate to wear repellent and only usually put it on after the bites are so bad that I cannot stand it. I have never had dengue. The risk of dengue was higher this past year and it is still wet for this time of the year, so there are mosquitoes, some of them may even be the type that carry denque and some of those may actually carry dengue. Worrying about them is probably like worrying that your plane will crash on the way here. Odds are you will be fine, most people are. Mosquitoes don't fly far distances so ask in the specific area where you are camping and if there is an outbreak, move on. I would wear repellent and relax and have a good time.

wendy devlin

Dec 15, 2006, 4:58 PM

Post #4 of 7 (4507 views)

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Re: [yucatandreamer] Mosquito paranoia, dengue, and deet

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Two threads on the same subject!

Will try to combine an answer here but it is directed at comments made in both threads.

To my observation, dengue is a fact of life...in several parts of tropical Mexico.

Getting denque is a risk but like other such diseases, generally, present in an environment, there are 'outbreaks' from time to time. This tends to be the time, that people not familiar to the disease, often find out about the disease's existence. Ditto for typhoid etc.

Like many diseases, people can have mild to extreme cases.

Our daughter caught dengue while working in a vivero in Colima. Su esposo tambien. The symptoms are not fun, as Rolly and others can probably attest, but usually a person suffers a few days and gets well.

More serious, at least in the eyes of the public health system, is the less common, hemorragic variety of dengue. If babies, children or a person with a compromised immune system contracts this version of the disease, it can be fatal.

Several infants died in the village that my daughter lived in over the year, of this disease. She had a baby herself at that time and even though the baby did not contact dengue when she did, she took precautions to protect him.
Especially during mosquito 'happy hour' at dusk.

When arbon and I walked the lanes and back-roads of that area, every morning, signs with a large 'white (dengue-carrying) mosquito and the Ghost-buster cross, were posted at regular intervals everywhere in the countryside. Colima has a lot of water flowing everywhere in, irrigation canals, streams and rivers.

In Melaque and other towns, it is not uncommon for there to be periodically, an anti-mosquito spraying of the wetlands in the area.

Usually before the scheduled spraying, a vehicle drives around with a horn blasting a public service announcement to stay inside or other public service announcements.

One year, I remember that the wet-lands around the Guadalajara airport were being sprayed to control a large out-break of dengue.

Of course, maybe these comments do not apply to others area but this has been my experience.

Papirex

Dec 15, 2006, 5:27 PM

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Re: [paulette & Chuck] Mosquito paranoia, dengue, and deet

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Just a couple of observations about mosquitoes. And how to lower your vulnerability to them. I moved to Mexico from Alaska. In the far north everywhere is mosquito heaven. You have never seen a lot of mosquitoes in one area until you have been out on the tundra. Fortunately, they are not disease carrying mosquitoes though.

If you are in an area where there are a lot of them and you forgot to bring a facemask, or a clean handkerchief to cover your face with, you will inhale them when you breathe. You must cover your nose and mouth with your hands. It is better to have your hands all bitten, than to choke on them in your nasal passages.

Caribou herds often panic and stampede when trying to get away from hordes of mosquitoes. More caribou are killed that way every year than are ever killed by hunters. Or oil.

Deet is the best repellant, the purer the better. I used to always have a case of the military Deet, which is 100% Deet. The military stuff is hard to get if you are a civilian. (I had connections.)

The main thing is to stop using any soaps, deodorants, lotions or hairdressings that smell sweet. If you are a woman, don’t use any cologne, perfume, or any cosmetics that smell sweet. If you do, you are inviting the skeeters to lunch.

Take a couple of vitamin B-1 pills every day. If you are taking vitamin B-1 and the guy next to you isn’t, he will be the one to get bitten. Don’t ask me where to find vitamin B-1 from a natural source. I don’t know. I used to get mine from Longs Drugs.

Mosquitoes bother my wife all the time here. Cuernavaca is not known for having a mosquito problem. When I tell her to quit using sweet smelling colognes, and cosmetics, she looks at me like I am the Anti-Christ, and maybe that I turn into a wolf late at night.

It’s your choice folks, don’t smell sweet and you have won half the battle.

Rex

"The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved" - Victor Hugo

(This post was edited by RexC on Dec 15, 2006, 5:31 PM)

wendy devlin

Dec 15, 2006, 6:12 PM

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Re: [RexC] Mosquito paranoia, dengue, and deet

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To add on to Rex's comments above...about smelling 'sweet'.

According to a scientific study in Scientific American many moons ago(there could likely have been other studies with new information since then)

It is not so much the 'smell'(mosquitoes don't smell a person) but the insects are highly perceptive to heat. This ability allows them to find mammals, giving the heat radiated from a warm-blooded creature.

According to the scientific study, perfumes, deordorants, hair-sprays etc. that atomize, evaporate or do whatever it is do, create slight changes in the 'heat' currents surrounding a person's skin.

Hence mosquitoes 'sense' and are attracted to the 'warmth'.

The article also explained that this is the basis behind why certain people are mosquito 'magnets' and others largely ignored.

We all radiate heat from our skin, in varying degrees.

Those who radiant more heat, are more easily detected by female mosquitoes looking to bulk up with blood for the purpose of reproduction. We may not be able to perceive these differences, but females supposedly are highly attuned.

If there is updated information, I'm all ears.

paulette & Chuck

Dec 16, 2006, 8:08 AM

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Re: [wendy devlin] Mosquito paranoia, dengue, and deet

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Thanks again, everyone and I do think that I'm being paranoid. We did go out yesterday to buy deet, picaridin, and permethrin for the clothes. I had an interesting conversation with a travel nurse at Kaiser-Permanente( my HMO) yesterday. I called to ask about malaria pills and she said that they aren't necessary in Mexico and that there is no dengue problem there. Kaiser is not recommending malaria meds this year! Weird as they were all over it last year. I'm not sure if she is right-- but i would like it if she is. I guess just having what you need ,just in case, is the ticket.

Thanks again, my friends!

Paulette