This is my entry to Techie She Lucky Blogger Weekly Giveaway Week 12. This week’s prize is $10 paypal cash credit from Sir Rob of Be a LifeSaver of Goodness.

Now that the rainy season + the terror that it brings, also known as DENGUE, is upon us again, I fear for my son’s safety all the time + is constantly up on my toes checking to make sure no nasty mosquitoes bite him at any given time of the day. But sometimes, even if you are always on your guard, one or two mosquitoes would manage to sneak into the room + give my son a nasty bite, which he will scratch to his heart content until his skin ends up swollen from the bite + his scratch or worse, to a full-blown wound that leaves ugly dark marks in his skin after a few days 🙁

I guess we can never totally get rid of the pesky mosquitoes in the house no matter how hard we try to keep the house + our yard clean, we live next door to a family who keeps a little swamp of sorts in their backyard which serves as a perfect breeding ground for these insects. Apart from that the other neighbor rarely cleans their surrounding + their yard is teeming with fallen leaves and other wastes that also serves as shelter for the insects. Not to mention they also keep a tiny swamp where their pet ducks play and take a bath. I know, some neighborhood, right? The hassle of living in a very rural community, really!

What with the rate of dengue cases increasing by leaps + bounds this year, not to mention the number of casualties in its wake, the dengue scare is really enough to frighten the living daylights our of every mother in this country. But as we know, worrying does nothing + the most effective way to eliminate the cases of dengue in our country is by educating ourselves about it + its preventions. Some mommy bloggers I know wrote some comprehensive + educating posts about dengue on their blogs. I also did some research + stumble upon this interesting article on SmartParenting‘s site.

Here are bits + pieces of what I’ve learned about dengue so far:

Fast facts about dengue:

• this is an infection marked by fever which is caused by the dengue virus
• this is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito
• symptoms include: fever, flu, a rash + body aches which  usually start 3 to 10 days after being bitten by the mosquito
• no vaccine is available to prevent dengue, neither is there a specific antibiotic to treat this.  A combination of  increase fluid intakes + paracetamol {to treat fever, just make sure to steer clear of aspirin + ibuprofen} is administered to infected patients

How to prevent Dengue:

• the best possible solution is to avoid being bitten by a mosquito, but considering we live in a tropical country, it really takes huge amount of efforts to keep you + your little ones safe from mosquito bites. Also, be wary of mosquitoes during the day as Aedes aegypti mosquito are normally daytime mosquitoes.
• You can stock up on mosquito repellant lotions + slather your little ones as often as possible, especially when they are playing outside. You can also try mosquito repellant stickers which you can easily attach to your child’s clothes or his crib to prevent mosquitoes from swarming around him. Just make sure to get the DEET-free ones or opt for a more natural alternative. {I bought a box of these repellant stickers + I’ll be posting about it soon}
• As always, “prevention is better than cure,” so to avoid the mosquitoes altogether, make sure to keep your surrounding areas clean + dispose of anything in the yard that gathers stagnant water, especially during the rainy days.

image from https://mediworldrkr.blogspot.com