Everything you need to know about mosquito-borne diseases

Mosquito season has arrived. It brings along the infamous blood-sucking insects with their increased breeding, feeding, and biting. You can’t enjoy the rain without getting unpleasant mosquito bites if you open your windows to sense the breeze. These bites are not just annoying but could also be precursors to a range of mosquito-borne diseases and resulting health complications.

Nothing is worth falling sick and spending thousands on medicines and treatments. That’s why one needs to be aware and mindful of these tiny insects around their living spaces and get rid of them properly.

Mosquito-borne diseases

Mosquitoes are one of the most talked-about pests, especially during the monsoon season. They are one of the deadliest species on the planet. Let us delve into the different diseases caused by mosquitoes to understand why this statement is absolutely true.

The diseases that we shall focus on are:-

1. Zika Virus
2. Dengue Fever
3. Malaria

Zika Virus

The Zika Virus is a mosquito-borne infectious disease spread mostly by Aedes mosquitoes that generally bite during the day. This means no extra effort of shutting the windows at night would help salvage the situation!

Since the very first time that it was discovered back in 1947, the Zika Virus mosquito has been wreaking havoc on humans all over the world. The deadly infection has paved its way into India again this year. This means that one has to be on their toes to ensure that their loved ones don’t contract the disease.

The Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitoes. This means that when a mosquito bites an infected person, it gets infected and can spread the virus by biting other people. Some other ways that cause the spread of this virus are:

• Can spread to the baby if the pregnant mother is bitten
• Through blood transfusions
• Can be sexually-transmitted too

Majority of the people who are infected with the zika virus won’t experience a lot of symptoms or the symptoms that they suffer will be the mild ones. Following are the milder symptoms of mosquito-borne Zika:

Symptoms of  Zika Virus

1. Muscle Pain
2. Fever
3. Rashes
4. Headaches
5. Joint Pains
6. Red eyes
7. Conjunctivitis

These symptoms generally last for approximately five to ten days. Since it is not a well-recognised disease yet, the zika virus infection may seem like the flu and may be overlooked by many. But, it must not be taken lightly as there can be severe consequences to ignoring the symptoms. The dire consequences include:

Severe Consequences Of Zika Virus

1. Zika infection during pregnancy results in severe birth defects.
2. May cause Guillain-Barré syndrome. It is a rare nervous system illness in which a person’s immune system attacks their nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and, in some cases, paralysis.
3. Zika virus can cause severe brain disease including swelling of the brain or spinal cord.
4. Zika virus can also cause a blood disorder that results in bleeding, bruising, or slow blood clotting.

No cure or vaccination has been made yet that can immunize the world against the zika virus.

Dengue Fever

Dengue viruses are spread to people through the bite of an infected Aedes species. Half of the world’s population lives in high-risk dengue prone areas. Dengue fever infects up to 400 million people each year! Approximately 100 million individuals are infected by the virus, with 40,000 people dying from severe dengue fever.

There are two ways in which the body responds to Dengue virus. You either have mild symptoms that last for a while or severe dengue that would take weeks to get better. The mild symptoms of dengue are:

Symptoms of Dengue

1. Headache
2. Muscle, bone and joint pain
3. Nausea
4. Vomiting
5. Pain behind the eyes
6. Swollen glands
7. Rashes

The fever that dengue viruses induce is normally over 104 degrees. The 3 types of dengue fever are:

Types of Dengue

1. Mild Dengue Fever – Symptoms appear a week after the bite and may lead to serious or fatal consequences.
2. Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever – Symptoms are moderate at first, but they can quickly deteriorate over a few days.
3. Dengue Shock Syndrome is a serious form of dengue that can lead to death.

It can be caused by four different viruses. This means each person can contract it four times in his lifetime. Additionally, Dengue fever has no specific therapy or cure. The medications given during dengue are generally to ease pain and keep the person hydrated.

Malaria

Malaria is a dangerous and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite that is spread by a mosquito species that feeds on humans. Humans and female Anopheles mosquitoes are infected cyclically in the biological history of malaria.

Female mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles transmit malaria to humans. Female mosquitoes need blood to produce eggs, and these blood meals via bites represent the parasite life cycle’s link between the human and mosquito hosts.

More commonly, the patient shows a combination of the following symptoms:

Symptoms of Malaria

1. Fever
2. Chills
3. Sweats
4. Headaches
5. Nausea and vomiting
6. Body aches
7. General weakness

Malaria attacks often last 6–10 hours, but this is not always the case. It has these three components of the attack, the durations of which differs from person to person:

• A chill stage (sensation of cold, shivering)
• A hot stage (fever, headaches, vomiting; seizures in young children)
• A sweaty stage (sweats, return to normal temperature, tiredness)

When infections are worsened by unforeseen organ failures or anomalies in the patient’s blood or metabolism, severe malaria develops. The following are some of the forms of severe malaria:

Severe consequences of Malaria

1. Cerebral malaria, with abnormal behaviour, impairment of consciousness, seizures, coma, or other neurologic abnormalities
2. Malaria in pregnancy can cause serious illness in the mother and result in early birth or a kid with low birth weight.
3. Can also cause spleen rupture in rare cases
4. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), an inflammatory reaction in the lungs that restricts oxygen exchange

Although medications like antibiotics and antiparasitics do help, they are expensive and malaria treatment takes hospitalisation and iv drips at home which is very expensive. Plus, the patient’s family also loses out on the quality of life.

Mosquito Control

Now that we’ve established that mosquitoes spread the worst of diseases, we want to treat them seriously and take the appropriate steps to control them.

We know how you rely on readily available products like mosquito sprays and dispensers that are highly marketed. But the question remains- are they effective?

There’s a high possibility that these so-called best mosquito control products are ineffective and you are wasting your time, effort and money behind them. The chemicals that are part of these products are harmful to you in the long run.

Why don’t you rely on the most trusted mosquito control solution that’s backed with years of research and practical experience?

Mosquito Management Service by HiCare

As one of India’s most experienced pest control providers, we as HiCare professionals realised the need for preventing the onset of mosquitoes in your spaces. Therefore, we set out on an endeavour to bring revolution to the mosquito pest control segment by inventing an ingenious 3 step Mosquito Control Solution.

• Smart Air – We invented an automated wall dispenser that sprays an odourless formulation at scientifically optimised intervals.
• Smart Walls- Our team has tested and come up with a long-standing encapsulated wall spray treatment which retains on indoor walls for 3 months. What’s even better is the fact that it is safe for kids, pets and elders!
• Smart Water- We use WHO-approved chemicals for anti-larval breeding sites treatment to prevent the breeding of tiny disease-causing monsters in and around the house.

Our long term treatment for mosquito control comes with excellent service procedures that are tried and tested.

From inspection to execution of all these 3 stages, our experts ensure a mosquito-free home post the service.

So throw those DIY mosquito repellents away and stay assured of safety from mosquitoes for 3 months at a stretch! Also get a 30 days money-back guarantee and keep your windows open 24/7. Choose our warranty backed Mosquito Pest Control Service now!