Beware of Dengue Fever Baja California Sur

Beware of Dengue Fever

There have been 15,000 confirmed cases of dengue, of which 892 are in Los Cabos, La Paz 116, 4 Comondú, 2 in Mulege and one in Loreto.

The Municipal Health Director has said Baja California Sur is fifth nationwide in cases of this, Los Cabos is the municipality with the highest incidence. Authorities blame our lack of culture in terms of taking precautions against dengue, so they are trying to educate us on how to combat this disease.

Dengue fever is transmitted by mosquitoes. The mosquito becomes infected when it bites a person with dengue virus in their blood, although it can’t be spread directly from one person to another person.

Symptoms, which usually begin four to six days after the bite and last for up to 10 days, may include a sudden high fever, severed headaches, muscle, bone, and joint pain, pain behind the eyes, nausea, vomiting, and possibly a skin rash.

Sometimes symptoms are mild and can be mistaken for those of the flu or another viral infection. Younger children and people who have never had the infection before tend to have milder cases than older children and adults. People with weakened immune systems as well as those with a second or subsequent dengue infection are believed to be at greater risk for developing more severe symptoms.

The Secretary of Health is asking everyone to eliminate standing water in their yards. Even a teaspoon of still water can become a breeding ground for these little bastards, so dry out everything, even water bowls left out for pets should be brought inside.

There is no vaccine to prevent dengue fever. The best way to prevent the disease is to prevent bites by infected mosquitoes. Use Spray coverage.

There is no specific medicine to treat dengue. If you think you may have dengue fever, you should use pain relievers with acetaminophen and avoid medicines with aspirin, which could case bleeding. You should also rest, drink plenty of fluids, and see your doctor. If you start to feel worse in the first 24 hours after your fever goes down, you should get to a hospital immediately to be checked for complications.

If someone in your home gets dengue fever, be especially vigilant about efforts to protect yourself and other family members from mosquitoes, because mosquitoes that bite that person, and then bite you, can give dengue to you.