Every year, people from Taipei will travel down to southern Taiwan to visit relatives or to enjoy the assortment of activities that the area has to offer. In recent months, however, Dengue fever has plagued the entire southern region of Taiwan and the recent outbreak has caused panic among the residents of the south.
Dengue fever is a mosquito borne illness that is spread by a species of mosquito known as the Yellow Fever Mosquito or Aeges Agypti. When infected by a single mosquito bite, one experiences common symptoms such as a sudden fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, rashes, nausea and vomiting. However, when the disease deteriorates into dengue hemorrhagic fever, it can be fatal if not properly treated as the disease can cause organ dysfunction, severe bleeding, low blood pressure and blood plasma leakage although such cases are small in percentage.
Currently the disease is only causing problems in the Kaohsiung and Tainan areas with small cases reported in Pingtung and elsewhere. As of November 5 , the reported cases of Dengue fever have already topped 30,000 cases and more than 100 patients have died from the fever despite the best efforts of Taiwanese healthcare. In response, the Taiwanese government have sent the military to help with suppressing the mosquitoes with pesticides and the Center of Disease Control or the CDC has encouraged the residents in the south to help step up the efforts to suppress the disease by spraying pesticide and removing artificial water containers that provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
There are different ways to prevent getting Dengue Fever: using insect repellant when outside, staying indoors to prevent chances of getting bitten or covering all the skin areas to prevent bites. Just remember: there is no vaccine or cure for Dengue Fever so it is very important to protect yourself from mosquitoes.