October 19, 2019
Curiously, we got an anxious PM (FB chat) message & phone call from an expat here in Merida, from Clinica de Merida, whose daughter was admitted just last night for a 40.6ºC (105ºF) fever … needing a transfusion of platelets … aka plaquetes …**

So … Dengue Fever infections are being transmitted ~now~ in Merida. … Take precautions …

This is the Worst Dengue Year in Nearly a Decade. It May Get Worse from Here.

Educate yourself on how to protect your families from Dengue risks … See the ~”How To Avoid Dengue”~ articles listed below.

**FORTUNATELY, she was not bleeding from nose, eyes, gums or stomach (GI system), and she had no DSS symptoms (no fluid in the lungs, no shock symptoms) … If a family member has Dengue symptoms (high fever, plus possibly achy joints) ~Pay special attention~ to their symptoms on Days #4 – #6, because that’s when the real health risks happen.

Education … and actions … are the keys to staying safe. 😉

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Sidelights:
~ If someone in your household (or neighbors) gets Dengue … SPRAY YOUR HOME carefully to eliminate mosquitoes that may (likely) be infected with Dengue virus to protect your family & friends.

… Past studies show up to 95% of household members get subsequent Dengue infections, when one member is bitten by a Dengue-infected mosquito. … Those Dengue-infected female mosquitoes can easily live ANOTHER 10 to 30 more days – biting other household members & biting neighbors (because the females go back outside to lay their eggs).

~ SPRAY every room carefully with typical mosquito killing ~indoor~ sprays … like H24 … Aedes aegyptii mosquitoes LOVE to hide underneath furniture … in with our clothes (lightly-stinky from our body-odor residues) … and up by the ceiling … So, FOCUS the spraying on those areas … briskly moving-disturbing the clothes when spraying them.

~ Check ALL screens & doors to find & block even small holes that mosquitoes can enter. …. You can cut little pieces of fiberglass screen material, to fold & fit … to block the gaps, openings, tears & spaces …

~ We personally have nylon sheer curtains over our exterior doorways … weighted at the bottom corners (to hold the curtain closed over the doorway) … because the mosquitoes LOVE to ride in on our backs, and fly-in in our wake … as we enter the house.

~ ELIMINATE or treat ALL water that stands more than 5 days. … fresh Aedes aegyptii hatch out & fly in just 7 days of only 1 tbsp of standing water here … Plus: Pay special attention to   flower-pot drip trays,   bits of old crockery,   bits of poly*styrene pkging   or even small pieces of plastic trash & plastic bags …

~ Treating water that stands for more than 7 days? … There are 2 good larvicides that kill all the mosquito larvae in standing water:   Copper Sulfate (-trihydrate or pentahydrate crystals)  ~ works permanently ~ … or Abate (lasts for 3 months) …  Note that after checking 12 different ag-chemical stores & pesticide vendors, there’s no Abate tablets~puck~pellets available in Merida … so use Copper Sulfate. … Just 1 or 2 crystals in a tire kills larvae for years. … AND   for swimming pools or fountains, your chlorine disinfectant is enough … AND for unused (drained) pools or fountains with standing water, Copper Sulfate (‎ CuSO4 – 5H2O ) works GREAT at just 3 ppm (3 mg/L) levels.

For both mosquito & algae control in pools and fountains, just 1½ tablespoons of the pretty blue crystals of ‎Copper Sulfate (… CuSO4-5H2O  or ‎CuSO4 – 3H2O … ) in 30,000L of pool water works great & is very safe   (per WHO, EPA & US State Health Depts).

See this good article for additional ways to protect yourself & your loved ones:
https://yucalandia.com/science-health…/dengue-fact-sheet/

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Yes, I am available for PMs & chats on Facebook … Please read the “Dengue Fact Sheet” (see second link below) … first.

Plus … Two good sites:
https://yucalandia.com/science-health-issues/dengue-what-to-do/chikungunya-dengue-virus-information/

and

Dengue Fact Sheet:
https://yucalandia.com/science-health-issues/dengue-fact-sheet/

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Feel free to copy with proper attribution: YucaLandia/Surviving Yucatan.
© Steven M. Fry

Read-on MacDuff . . .