Dengue fever outbreak?
 

I have been reading in various places (including CDC site), that dengue fever is on the rise in CR. In particular, I have read that Montezuma is having an outbreak right now. Has anyone else heard this? A post on Lonely Planet mentions that amcostarica.com is reporting that there is a 70% increase in reported cases over last year. This makes me nervous. I'd like to hear from people just returning from the Montezuma and northern beaches. Thanks!

We just returned from Playa Grande and the next day I heard about the dengue fever outbreak. According to the CDC it appears that symptoms will show on average 4 - 7 days after exposure. I received my final mosquito bite as I was boarding the plane in Liberia on Saturday so I am anxiously waiting to pass the incubation time frame. I do know even with my high Deet lotion those buggers found a way to bite me so I am quite nervous.

Where did you find out about the outbreak of dengue? This will be our third trip to CR, and the 1st time we are not doing the Malaria prophylaxis. It seems that Dengue is much more probable than malaria. I have read that it is worse if you get it a second time. What concentration of DEET did you use?

I saw a posting about the outbreak of Dengue fever on another bulletin board literally two days after returning. We didn't use the malaria pills either this time since it doesn't seem to be a big problem in CR. We only used 31% DEET since I tend to have a reaction to it if wearing it too long. I don't know if I missed spots or the little buggers just weren't phased by the DEET but I definitely came home with some nasty bites.

I was in Montezuma earlier this month. There was an outbreak there a few months back but apparantely the government was quick to respond with a mosquio hit squad.

When I was there I didn;t get any mosquito bites but did get bit by sand fleas or something similar

There were a number of cases of dengue in Tamarindo and Nosara areas 2 years ago. Unfortunately, there is no preventative like there is for malaria. The only thing you can do is not get bitten, which is really not that easy.

I am surprised to read reports of dengue in Montezuma as that area does not seem to have many mosquitos - when we were in Malpais 2 years ago, we stayed at a totally open villa at Florblanca and none of us got bitten. In Tamarindo and Nosara, it was a different story. Mosquitos were out in full force.

Dengue is not a good thing and can make one very ill for a week or two, but if I'm not mistaken, it isn't necessarily worse if you get it a second time UNLESS you get the more severe strain that affects the blood--it is then also more dangerous. I think I read a few months back that only people who have had dengue once before get that type, but getting it is still rare and I believe you can have more than one case of dengue and still not get the more harmful strain.

We, too, are a bit nervous as we are taking a baby for a month and will be in both Limon and Puntarenas provinces--including Montezuma. For sure, we will use extra care.

dengue can make you quite ill for more than a week or two. Our friend caught it during an outbreak in flamingo about a year and half ago. He was still having vision problems 6 months later. There are actually 4 different types of dengue if I remember correctly. the worst being the hemorrhagic which is not very common.

From what I hear from friends who live down there this has been a wetter than usual year in some areas which could explain the increase.

Deet of 20-30% is probably sufficient. You might want to have some longer pants and a long sleeved shirt for times when they might be bitting. evening is usually a pretty bad time for bugs.

don't panic over every bite you might get down there. there are plenty of other types of bugs that will bite other than mosquitos. Most don't cause any problems. I never felt the need to use my deet at all last time I was down there but always have it near.

Is dengue fever prevalent throughout CR or is it along the northern beaches? We are planning a trip in August.

Dengue fever seems to be a potential problem any where in the tropics where there are mosquitos. A friend's daughter caught it in Africa. There was a large outbreak on Maui while we were there in 2001. If memory serves, it's the mosquitos there are out during the day that tend to carry dengue.

Just use repellant, dress appropriately and don't worry too much.

It can pop up just about anywhere. there were cases in the central valley a couple of years ago (2003) when they had a really big outbreak. Primarily though it does seem to hit the coast harder because the central valley gets cooler at night which discourages the reproduction of the mosquitos that carry it.