Wanderlust: Expat Life & Style in Thailand April / May 2015 - The Health & Wellness Issue | Page 26
HEALTH & well-being
Health in the Tropics
Dealing with Dengue
by Ayan Humbert-Droz
Photos: Shutterstock
E
very now and then,
we get a rollicking reminder that we are in fact living
in the tropics. No, not the untamable, humidity-induced hair frizz.
We’re talking about mosquito-borne
viral infections such as dengue fever.
Dengue is a nasty virus acquired
from the Aedes Aegypti mosquito—
little bloodsuckers commonly
found in subtropical and tropical
environments, Thailand included.
24 WANDERLUST
It is with a certain amount of irony
that I recall the moment my husband
and I received an impossibly
colourful flyer in our letterbox.
Although written in Thai,
the infographics were clear enough:
Beware of dengue mosquitoes
and do not allow your home to become
a veritable breeding ground for these
little critters.
We took one look
at the brochure, pooh-poohed it,
and let out a chuckle. Not us—
we wouldn’t catch dengue. Hey,
this is Bangkok—the Big Smoke!
People catch dengue fever
when on once in a lifetime
treks i