dengue fever

[2LeftFeet]

It can be anywhere in the country--including Santo Domingo. They--the mosquitos that carry DF tend to be in urban areas. They like wet, rainy places. So if there are lots of still bodies of water--- you can have mosquitos.

Not to be smart but it rains a lot in the DR. --including Santo Domingo.

It's a chance you take with living in paradise.

[Rick Snyder]

I as an ex-pat have lived here for 11 years and have never gotten dengue. I also never use insect repellant. I do have my fans on at all times and my house has screen on all the windows and doors. Whether I am playing against a stacked deck is debatable but as I said I haven't been struck yet.

There is this article from last October. I just found this article. As you can see there have been 3 reported deaths this year with 900 cases of dengue of which 46 were of the more serious strain of the disease. You will notice from this article that 2006 had 6,252 cases of dengue of which 236 were the more serious strain and it resulted in 49 deaths. You will also note that the Public Health Ministry spends 1.8 million dollars annually to help fight this disease. Here is another article.

Hope this helps.

Rick

PabloPaul I have this film that I really wish you would watch. After watching it if you should decide to want to comment on it do so per PM and not on this board.

[Lambada]

Originally Posted by andrewc52002

I wanted to know how the expats deal with this problem. Do they decide to leave the country, do they move to other provinces, do they lock themselves inside (lol) ? Do they learn from the locals ?

This expat a) doesn't view it as a 'problem' but as a possibility for which she b) uses mosquito repellant on face, arms & ankles (more so a few days after heavy rains) c) wears long trousers d) uses mosquito netting on her bed e) has read up on the symptoms f) has even diagnosed another expat over the phone g) knows the difference between hemorrhagic dengue and non-hemorrhagic dengue h) knows to take acetominophen NOT aspirin and consult doctor (there's an injection they give here which eases symptoms but can't, of course do much more) and h) isn't leaving the country. No province of DR is a dengue exclusion zone and no we don't lock ourselves inside since mossies are nosy little b***ers and would climb through the keyhole........ This is one of those rare areas where those expats who do know about dengue tend to know more than many locals and thus won't have open containers of water hanging around. Course, after the rains of this week it would make no difference since the mossies have an abundance of breeeding pools.

So basically we take precautions & then forget about it & get on with life.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/deng...eFactSheet.pdf

[globalmike295]

Lambada is always right . Could not agree more. What's next a lung pollution wave from motoconchos !

[andrewc52002]

Thank you, Lambada,
it's exactly the way I wanted to learn about DF. BTW, there is something else more annoying than DF where you live ? I'm talking disease, epidemics, insects, reptiles.

[2LeftFeet]

I think malaria can be more annoying than dengue but I guess that can be subject to debate!

At least there is medication to cure you if you catch (the deadly type in time) malaria. There is nothing for dengue. Dengue you have to suffer until it ends. If you catch the deadly type there is nothing you can do. If your immune system can't fight it off........ you die.

[NALs]

Originally Posted by 2LeftFeet

I think malaria can be more annoying than dengue but I guess that can be subject to debate!

At least there is medication to cure you if you catch (the deadly type in time) malaria. There is nothing for dengue. Dengue you have to suffer until it ends. If you catch the deadly type there is nothing you can do. If your immune system can't fight it off........ you die.

I know this is not a politically correct thing to say, but wtf, I'm going to say it anyway because everyone who lives in the DR either part-time or full know this to be true!

Where ever you have a high number of Haitians, for some reason, Malaria is never too far away.

Yes, it's spread by mosquitos, but mosquitos can only transmit the malaria once they bit a person who is already infected with the disease. Malaria cases are more numerous in Haiti than in the DR and with the migration of Haitians into the DR, it should be no surprise that this is the case.

I know Haitians are often blamed for many things, many of which are exaggerated, but the malaria issue seems to be right on.

-NALs

[Lambada]

Originally Posted by andrewc52002

BTW, there is something else more annoying than DF where you live ? I'm talking disease, epidemics, insects, reptiles.

Yeah..............don't get me started. (It's ok it's a joke & you're probably too new to know that I can be fairly opinionated about 2 legged foreign residents who whine about Dominicans or the DR because it isn't like home etc etc). Have you done a search of the forums on this topic? There are quite a few threads on different health/insect matters. Some of the tiniest ants can give you a nip out of all proportion to their size. But in answer to do I find any of it annoying? No, I don't. With, of course, the possible exception of people who think a specific nationality is responsible for spreading a particular infirmity...........fortunately not a problem where I live since we appear to have a dearth of low-flying Haitians who bite people..........

There are going to be quite a few barrio dwellers in Puerto Plata (probably elsewhere, too) who get chest infections, gripe in the next few days/weeks. I doubt if it'll be an epidemic but many are sleeping on damp beds, in damp sheets etc (because of floods) so it should come as no great surprise. All overcomeable with hefty doses of vitamin C - oranges are inexpensive here. There are also going to be a lot more mossies because of all the pools of water; so if people don't normally use repellant it wouldn't be a bad idea to start, in the short term, at least.

[NALs]

Originally Posted by Lambada

There are quite a few threads on different health/insect matters. Some of the tiniest ants can give you a nip out of all proportion to their size. But in answer to do I find any of it annoying? No, I don't. With, of course, the possible exception of people who think a specific nationality is responsible for spreading a particular infirmity...........fortunately not a problem where I live since we appear to have a dearth of low-flying Haitians who bite people..........

Hey!

I'm not the only one who have noticed such malaria "trend", take a peek in here and read the third post.

Hmm, who said I was right???

That person is not just anybody, but a respected someone.

-NALs

[Lambada]

I looked. I didn't see the word 'Haitians' once in Hillbilly's post. He mentioned African countries like Togo and the Cameroons which incidentally don't have many Haitians either. But they are known countries for malaria.

Don't hijack the thread Nals. Andrewc was asking about epidemics of things like dengue. He wasn't asking about epidemics of Haitians.