Posted: 5/11/2016
Parkland expert urges prevention to avoid bites, disease
You can blame it on the mild winter, recent heavy rains, El Niño or even climate change, but whatever the cause, mosquito season is upon us and in addition to being an annoyance, mosquitoes present a serious public health problem.
Mosquitoes are the main carriers of diseases such as Zika, West Nile, dengue and Chikungunya viruses. That’s why officials at Parkland Health & Hospital System say it’s important to know how to protect yourself and your family to reduce the likelihood that mosquitoes will breed outside and even inside your home.
As mosquito season gears up, public health experts urge individuals to take some basic steps to avoid bites
- Wear light-colored, long sleeved shirts and long pants
- Use insect repellent containing DEET
- Do not spray repellent directly on the face; spray on hands and then rub them on face.
- It is safe to use DEET-based repellent on children over 2 months old. Take precautions not to spray on their palms because of risk of touching eyes
- Limit outdoor activities during dawn or dusk when mosquitoes are most active.
People also need to mosquito-proof their homes by
- Making certain screens on windows and doors are not torn
- Eliminating any standing water outside the home, including water collecting in toys, tires, flower pots and inflatable child pools
- Changing out the water in bird baths at least once a week
- Changing water in pet bowls often
- Getting rid of puddles created by lawn sprinklers
- Clearing out clogged gutters
“The mosquito-borne disease that has gotten much attention recently is Zika virus. But so far almost all the cases of Zika that have been seen in the U.S. have resulted from travel to warm, tropical countries,” said Pranavi Sreeramoju, MD, Chief of Infection Prevention at Parkland and Associate Professor of Medicine-Infectious Diseases at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. “There is no concern for Zika in persons who have not traveled to a Zika-affected country or who have not had sexual contact with someone who has traveled to one of those countries.”
The Aedes aegypti mosquito, the primary carrier of Zika, is also known to transmit dengue and Chikungunya. This type of mosquito bites even during the day, compared to the mosquito that carries West Nile, which is most active just before dawn and after dusk.Zika has garnered considerable attention in recent months because of the apparent association with a birth defect called microcephaly that causes children to be born with abnormally small brains and skulls. But Dr. Sreeramoju emphasized that for people who are not pregnant Zika is usually a relatively mild virus with many infected individuals never even knowing they were infected.
West Nile was a significant problem in Texas in 2012, when more than 1,800 human cases were reported in the state. By 2014, that had dropped to less than 400 cases and in 2015 to about 250.
Most people infected with West Nile virus will not have any signs of illness, while about 20 percent will have mild symptoms such as fever, headache, body aches, and occasionally a skin rash on the trunk of the body and swollen lymph glands. Severe infection is called West Nile neuroinvasive disease and symptoms include headache, high fever, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness and paralysis. Less than one in a 100 people infected with West Nile virus will develop this more severe form of the disease.
“The important thing to remember about all these mosquito-related diseases is to protect yourself, especially if you are more susceptible to mosquito bites. And yes, there are some people who are more susceptible than others,” Dr. Sreeramoju said. “Interestingly, research shows about one in 10 people are more prone to mosquito bites; these include people who exhale more carbon dioxide and those who sweat more.”
The main message remains that while mosquito season is inevitable, there are steps you can take to reduce health risks to you and your family.