SS4C & 4D Resident Association

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How to Prevent Dengue

		By Jasraj Sandhu in Warning Published: Tuesday, 29 April 08 - 01:46 PM (GMT +08:00) Last Updated: Tuesday, 29 April 08 - 02:38 PM (GMT +08:00)

 As the number of dengue cases has gone up to alarming levels, this post is dedicated as an informational piece in order to educated and generally make the residents more aware of the dengue issue.

At present, the only method of preventing and controlling dengue fever is to eradicate the mosquito population. They are a number of ways to combat the vector mosquitoes are:

• Improved water storage practices. Cover all containers to prevent egg laying female mosquitoes access to it.
• Implement proper solid waste disposal.
• Eliminate any sources that may collect water such as tins, bottles, plastic food containers and old tires. Mosquitoes breed easily in any source of standing water.
• Appropriate insecticides, such as larvicide's can be added to water containers and man-made ponds. The insecticides can prevent mosquitoes breeding for several weeks. However, they must be re-applied as per directions.
• Always clean and check drains to ensure they are not blocked especially during the rainy season.
• Breed small mosquito-eating fishes in an artificial pond to eradicate the mosquito larvae.

In addition to the above, there are a number of factors to help prevent the mosquito being attracted to human prey.

• Avoid wearing dark and tight clothing because mosquitoes are attracted to dark colours. Wear loose, white and long clothes, which cover the whole body. Mosquitoes find it difficult to bite through loose clothes than tight fitting clothes.
• Environmental conditions. It is suggested to sleep under mosquito netting or in a room which has mosquito screens on the windows. Mosquitoes are unlikely to bite in an air-conditioned room and under strong fans. Mosquito coils are also useful to help prevent mosquitoes from entering the room.
• Apply mosquito repellants.
• Avoid reduce outdoor activities during morning and late afternoon because Aedes mosquitoes are daytime feeders.

For further information or general reading purposes, do visit the following articles:

1. Stop dengue at its source  by Anansa Jacob
2. Guidelines on the prevention of mosquito breeding - a full fledge guide to dengue and it's prevention.

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