Survival Medicine Podcast: Dengue Fever, Permethrin

Survival Medicine Podcast #379

Today, we talk about a mosquito-borne illness. What? It’s freezing out there, there’s no mosquitoes! Well, Down here in South Florida, we get outbreaks of tropical infections even in wintertime. A while ago, I wrote about a mosquito-borne virus that strikes warm weather regions: Dengue Fever.

At that time, I reported that places as far apart from each other as Singapore, Nicaragua, and Bangladesh had reported Dengue outbreaks. Not since the beginning of the year, but on the same day! This distribution meets the WHO definition of pandemic, characterized by community level outbreaks in different regions.)

This week, the Florida Department of Health in Miami issued an alert after two local residents came down with Dengue symptoms, bringing the total to 14 for 2019. These cases were not thought to be contracted in other countries, but locally in the South Florida area. The implication is that local mosquitoes in the area are a reservoir for the disease. Dr. Alton and Nurse Amy discuss what you need to know about Dengue in terms of recognition, treatment, and prevention.

Also, methods to apply Permethrin 0.5% solution to clothing (not skin). This insecticide gives long-lasting effective protection against mosquito bites and might be useful in epidemic settings caused by insect bites.

Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad,

Joe and Amy Alton

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