Mosquitoes and the Zika virus

Old Jan 18th, 2016, 10:42 AM
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Mosquitoes and the Zika virus

There are warnings about contracting the Zika virus by mosquito bites in Mexico. Are Mosquitoes an issue in March in the Mayan Riviera?
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Old Jan 18th, 2016, 01:37 PM
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http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/20...us-travel.html
Supposedly more of a nuisance unless you are PG.
However Yes Misquotes will be there in March & every other month of the year.
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Old Jan 18th, 2016, 04:31 PM
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We're into our dry season now which means fewer mosquito. Also, depending on where you go will depend on what sort of spraying or mosquito prevention there is. Many of our neighborhoods do get sprayed on a reg basis. We also have health inspectors literally knock on our doors to come into our houses and yards to inspect areas for mosquito breeding.
You won't find as much of that sort of thing in rural or impoverished areas.
Despite these precautions I do tell my visitors to bring a good repellent just in case.
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Old Jan 21st, 2016, 06:52 AM
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I haven't had a bite in ages. I read just 3 cases in Mexico, Chiapas and Nuevo Leon, one case in Texas, they have mosquitos there also.
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Old Jan 21st, 2016, 07:05 AM
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On the Caribbean coast of Mexico we always use mosquito repellent, day and night. Mostly due to Dengue, as it is a high risk area for that awful mosquito-borne disease.
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Old Jan 21st, 2016, 08:58 AM
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From the New York Times: "Dr. Pablo Kuri Morales, Mexico’s undersecretary for Prevention and Health Promotion, said in a telephone interview on Saturday that Mexico had diagnosed 15 cases of Zika, 10 of them in the state of Chiapas, on the border of Guatemala."
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Old Jan 21st, 2016, 02:01 PM
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Dengue is only really awful the second time you get it.

As for Zika, http://www.cdc.gov/zika/symptoms/index.html

Only 1 in 5 people infected with Zika show symptoms.
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Old Jan 21st, 2016, 02:55 PM
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Dengue is only potentially fatal the second time you get it, but one feels pretty awful even the first time they get it.

But - a portion of people infected with Zika (most likely those with a previous dengue infection) will come down with Guillain-Barré.

See the article in todays NYT http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/wo...T.nav=top-news
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Old Jan 21st, 2016, 03:31 PM
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Not so sure about Dengue only being severe the 2nd time you get it. i have a friend who got it in South America, first time she had ever traveled to a country that had dengue, and she was in incredible pain, felt like her head was exploding, pain inside her bones that was unrelenting, muscle pain, high fever, intense nausea and vomiting. She was hospitalized and says she prayed to die because she felt so bad. Long recovery.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2016, 05:37 AM
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You can get very sick with a first Dengue infection but the risk of serious complications like shock are higher with reinfection.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs117/en/

And while only one in five people who are infected with Zika virus have symptoms (which are usually mild) there is evidence that it can cause microcephaly in developing fetuses and, as cited above, there is some evidence linking it to Guillain-Barré.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2016, 07:28 AM
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Although it's not well understood at this time, it also seems as though people who develop Guillain-Barre after a Zika infection are testing positive for previous dengue and/or chikungunya infections.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2016, 07:40 PM
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FWIW:http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/auth...es-identified/
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Old Jan 23rd, 2016, 04:38 PM
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http://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/auth...42d-January+21
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Old Jan 23rd, 2016, 04:40 PM
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Lo siento Baldone. Did not see your post,
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Old Jan 23rd, 2016, 04:50 PM
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You know what they say about great minds...
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Old Jan 28th, 2016, 09:32 AM
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I had a belated lightbulb moment and searched online for permethrin treated clothing. I found a hooded Columbia mesh jacket that seems just the thing. There are lots of options for tops and bottoms, although they seem to be selling briskly.

You can also Google how to treat your clothes yourself using liquid permethrin; the treatment lasts through several washes. It's cheaper than buying the already treated clothing, but doesn't last as long.

And then there's DEET, which works, has been in widespread use for 60+ years, and has yet to be linked to any health issues.

Preventing bites is the key. There's not going to be a magic pill any time soon.
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Old Jan 29th, 2016, 08:21 AM
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Note that Picardin is equally effective as deet. Take a look at the cdc website - lots of good info on preventing mosquito bites!

I've treated clothing with the spray permethrin before (when we went to Borneo) and it works well - easy to do and pretty effective. Note that repellent on your skin is more effective and items like the bands you treat with 100% deet are pretty ineffective.
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Old Jan 29th, 2016, 05:41 PM
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I heard a mosquito viral expert on NPR today who gave the history of the zika virus and the mosquito that transmits it. I learned that the mosquito that transmits Zika bites during the daylight hours, not at night. And that mosquito population also bites from behind a person, biting on the back of the legs, neck, arms. So many times you do not know you have even been bitten. If you can get to that NPR piece online on their website, it was very informative.
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Old Jan 29th, 2016, 09:33 PM
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I heard a report on NPR--maybe the same one--in which a scientist said that out of 8,000 babies born every day in Brazil, so far only 6 total have been confirmed to suffer from microcephaly AND have tested positive for Zika antibodies. His feeling was that concern over this has been overblown in the absence of any real epidemiological data.
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Old Jan 30th, 2016, 07:14 AM
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The mosquitos that spread Zika are the same species that spreads dengue. So yes, they are day-time biters. They are also urban mosquitoes, breeding in any small amount of water - left in a tin can or in a discarded tire. One of the things cities can do to fight it is to clean things up, be vigilant about even small amounts of water in containers. Cities in Brazil are spraying and cleaning up, but it will be a long road.
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