A good monsoon replenishes ground water supply and ensures a good harvest. But it also leaves behind pools of stagnant water which are ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Here’s some information on the most common mosquito-borne diseases and how to prevent and/or alleviate them. In India, the onset of the monsoon season is the best and worst of times. Plentiful rains replenish ground water supply and ensure a good harvest. But they also leave behind pools of stagnant water which are ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes. The most common mosquito-borne diseases to strike during the monsoon season are dengue, malaria and chikungunya which are caused by Aedes Egypti, Anopheles and Culex mosquitoes. Here’s some useful information on the most common mosquito-borne diseases and how to prevent and/or alleviate them. Malaria Anopheles and Culex mosquitoes swarm out in the dark and attack ferociously from dawn to dusk. They are a dull grey colour and the female requires a blood meal to lay eggs. Malaria is transmitted by female anopheles mosquitoes. Most people residing in the tropics have developed innate immunity to malaria. Typically, malaria strikes in non-immune individuals. After a variable incubation period, it manifests as a fever, headache, aches and pains and diarrhoea. Most people believe that the most recognisable symptom of malaria is high fever with shivering and sweating. This pattern takes longer to establish itself. The disease may also creep in insidiously without high fever, eventually causing anaemia, fatigue and lethargy. Malaria is particularly severe and dangerous in children, pregnant women and in people who do not have a spleen. Diagnosis Diagnosis of malaria is based on the examination of blood smears. Once confirmed, a complete course of medication is required because the parasite can remain dormant in the liver, to re-emerge after a variable period causing a relapse or chronic infection. The Culex mosquito spreads filaria. Symptoms are fever or swelling of the lower limbs, scrotum and breasts. Diagnosis is through a blood smear. Sometimes filaria can manifest as tropical pulmonary eosinophilia, with coughing and wheezing. It is diagnosed with elevated levels of eosinophils in the blood count. The culex mosquito also transmits Japanese B encephalitis, a virus infection. It starts with a fever and can cause swelling of the brain, coma, convulsions and death. Dengue The Aedes Egypti mosquito, which causes dengue and chikungunya, on the other hand, has an attractive physical appearance. It has a striped body like that of a tiger. Unfortunately, it is domesticated and rarely strays from its place of birth. It loves humans and their environment. Unlike the dawn and dusk attacks of other mosquitoes, it bites in the daytime also. It hides in home upholstery and furniture and attacks a person repeatedly or bites several human beings in the vicinity. This is why several members of a family can develop dengue together. In dengue, fever develops abruptly, four to 10 days after a bite. There may be a red rash, headache, pain behind the eyes, in the joints and abdomen. Other symptoms…
