I leave SF tomorrow for Thailand and a friend of mine kindly sent me this article today: AP: Dengue Fever Outbreak

I'd like to know, anyone in SE Asia right now that can offer advice for travelers? Is this really something I should be worried about while I'm there?

I already went out and bought some extra Deet and I think I'll be opting for AC rooms over those with just a fan. While I want to be aware, only the plague could keep me from going!

I visited family in Pakistan a few months back and apparently this mosquito, that unlike the traditional ones we were used too, thrives on clean water which goes against the grain of being a mosquito, but anyway the fever itself is pretty dangerous and people are advised to administer caution, an important precaution being to try and stay indoors at sunset; the time when the hunters come out to strike with fervor. It is going around in that region but probably hasn't reached the stage of being declared a plague and is not a bad as a SARS epidemic. Just be careful about the symptoms and if you feel feverish head straight to the hospital, otherwise enjoy your trip.


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i am living in the Philippines right now (SF native) and many of the islands i have been visiting have had recent outbreaks. The mosquito that carries Dengue (at least over here) is a "zebra) mosquito, it has black and white stripes. its a pretty big bugger and the stripes are visible.
that being said i have seen that mosquito take a bite of me in areas where there is supposed to be Dengue and I'm not sick yet. just be careful, pick up some mosquito coils and your own mosquito netting and wear the DEET! also Dengue can be found in urban areas, so you need to wear bug repellent even in the cities. dont worry too much, have an amazing adventure.

I've been in Southeast Asia for the last five months, in Thailand right now. Haven't caught dengue fever yet!

While you should take every precaution to avoid mosquito bites, don't worry about it too much. I've been sleeping in fan rooms this whole time. In addition to DEET, there are the mosquito coils that you can buy to burn in your room at night, those seem to work pretty well.

The rainy season is wrapping up right now, and with it the number of mosquitoes, and dengue cases, should start to fall significantly.

And it's not like all of a sudden there was a huge spike in dengue fever. The rate has been unusually high this whole rainy season. I don't know why they wait until the end of the rainy season to turn it into international news. Maybe they wanted to wait for the final tolls to make the danger sound more impressive? The media is like that sometimes.

In Hong Kong and Shenzhen there are plenty of ads and awareness of dengue fever so it must be about although i havent heard of any cases mentioned in the papers (which usually happens). Sleeping with a mosquito net is probably wise if you are in an area that has recorded recent cases but this year has been pretty light on for mossies near me. Still thats no reason to drop the guard.

quote:

Originally posted by T.Khan:
the fever itself is pretty dangerous

Dengue fever isn't terribly dangerous. I dealt with a bout of dengue back in July. It's certainly enough to ruin a vacation, but it generally doesn't require hospitalization, especially on the first infection. If you get bad muscle and joint aches, and if you get little red spots on your skin, that's dengue. Treat it like you would treat a cold: bed rest, Tylenol (no ibuprofen), lots of water.

If you're gums start to bleed or you notice new bruises, go to a hospital, where they will put you on an IV to keep you hydrated. But symptoms like that are rare, especially for the first infection.