Dengue fever

lauriejean

New member
Feb 20, 2006
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Hi Folks,

I was just wondering if anyone in the expat-world was aware of an up and coming epedemic of Dengue fever. I was supposed to return to my house there in Cabarete in 2 weeks. However, yesterday my girlfriends (all spanish) called to warn me of this danger. I have an auto-immune disease (ms) and therefor lack an immune system that works on the bad guys. Anyways I would be grateful as to any enlightenment on this subject,
Thanks,
Laurie
 

audboogie

New member
Jul 4, 2004
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i was going to post on this too

apparently there is a big "outbreak" if you want to call it that going on. A young neighbor boy who is 18 is in the hospital as i write, sick from dengue. And in the paper yesterday i think it was something like the 29th person has died from it in SD most recently. I plan on reading up on Dengue as im not quite sure as to what causes the epedimic, i heard its clean water that has to do with it
 
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gary short

Guest
Mosquitos carry the virus. There is no treatment. If you have an auto-immune disease your in serious trouble if you get Dengue.
 

suzannel

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Jun 7, 2006
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Is this outbreak because of the rain season?

Because it is transmitted by moskitos, is this outbreak happening at this time of the year because it is the rainy season? Would this stop in December?
 

audboogie

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Jul 4, 2004
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Mosquitos carry the virus. There is no treatment. If you have an auto-immune disease your in serious trouble if you get Dengue.

I know its from mosquitoes but theres mosquitos in the DR in abundance all the time....why is it during certain times there is more Dengue than others? Rain water like someone said? I
 
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gary short

Guest
Mosquitos bread in standing water. Eliminating standing water in old tires, flower pots etc helps to lessen the possibility of being bitten. It would follow that after a rainy spell there would be more standing water. As to why mosquitos carry the virus....don't know.....google it.
 

tflea

Bronze
Jun 11, 2006
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Poor 'areas

don't worry about dengue. mostly happens in rural and poor areas.
 

GALK

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Mar 12, 2006
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Dengue is a virus transmitted by one type of mosquito which prefers clean water, that's the reason why outbrakes usually happen in the rainy season.
This mosquito (Tigermosquito, don't remember the Latin name for it) preferebly flies and bites during daylight and not in darkness.
 

macocael

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Aug 3, 2004
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www.darkhorseimages.com
If you read spanish you can keep abreast of the news regarding dengue by looking at Clave Digital: http://www.clavedigital.com/

DR1 also happens to have a brief note on it in their Wednesday report
and a link to their summary here: http://dr1.com/travel/prepare/health.shtml#18

It is not just a rural problem; in fact there are more cases in urban and urbanizing areas than in the country because that is where we find concentrations of pooled water (people storing water or water accumulating in dumps, etc).

While you may certainly worry about the consequences more for having an auto immune disease, I wouldnt worry overmuch about it on the basis of the location, because Cabarete is unlikely to have a problem. But you can check on this. I had the milder form of Dengue several years back, it wasnt fun, but it wasnt the worst thing I have suffered. The hemorrhagic variety is proportionally rare.
 

MommC

On Vacation!
Mar 2, 2002
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dr1.com
I had the severe form several yrs back and almost died.....definitely not something someone with an auto -immune disease would survive. Contrary to popular belief you are more likely to get it in a built up area (read large urban setting like Santo Domingo -where i got 'bit') than in a rural area as there are more places for stagnant water to collect.