Where There Is No Doctor 2011 187
HOW TO AVOID MALARIA (AND DENGUE)
Malaria occurs more often during hot, rainy seasons. If everyone cooperates, it
can be controlled. All these control measures should be practiced at once.
1. Avoid mosquitos.
Sleep where there
are no mosquitos
or underneath a
bed net treated with
insecticide or under
a sheet. Cover the
baby’s cradle with treated
mosquito netting or a thin cloth.
2. Cooperate with the malaria
control workers
when they come
to your village. Tell
them if anyone
in the family has
had fevers and let
them take blood
for testing.
3. If you suspect malaria, get
treatment quickly. After you have
been treated,
mosquitos
that bite you
will not pass
malaria on to
others.
4. Destroy mosquitos and their young. Mosquitos
breed in water that is not flowing. Clear ponds,
pits, old cans, or broken
pots that collect water. Raise
mosquito-eating fish in
ponds or lakes. Fill the tops
of bamboo posts with sand
and keep water containers
covered.
5. Malaria can also be prevented, or its effects greatly reduced, by taking anti‑malaria
medicines on a regular schedule. See pages 363 to 367.
DENGUE (BREAKBONE FEVER, DANDY FEVER)
This illness is sometimes confused with malaria. It is caused by a virus that is
spread by mosquitos. In recent years it has become much more common in many
countries. It often occurs in epidemics (many persons get it at the same time),
usually during the hot, rainy season. A person can get dengue more than once.
Repeat illnesses are often worse. To prevent dengue, control mosquitos and protect
against their bites, as described above.
Signs:
• Sudden high fever with chills.
• Severe body aches, headache, sore throat.
• Person feels very ill, weak, miserable.
• After 3 to 4 days person feels better for a few hours to 2 days.
• Then illness returns for 1 or 2 days, often with a rash that begins on hands
and feet.
• The rash then spreads to arms, legs, and finally the body (usually not the face).
A severe form of dengue may cause bleeding into the skin (small dark spots), or
dangerous bleeding inside the body. Go to a hospital immediately.
Treatment:
♦ No medicine cures it, but the illness goes away by itself in a few days.
♦ Rest, lots of liquids such as rehydration drink, fruit juice, or milk,
acetaminophen (but not aspirin or ibuprofen) for fever and pain.
♦ In case of severe bleeding, treat for shock, if necessary (see p. 77).