Dengue fever vaccine and dengue fever prevention

        Dengue fever is a viral disease caused by viruses of the genus alphaviruses (thus an arbovirus) and transmitted to humans by many arthropod vectors such as mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti and Haemagogus Sabethes). Viruses (four strains of flaviviruses) of dengue are transmitted to humans by mosquitoes and in particular by Aedes aegypti female, a specie well adapted to urban life, especially in tropical environments. Another feature of this type of transmission, unlike most of the vectors of malaria, mosquito feeds preferably on its human host during the day. It often enters houses to rest and feed and breed in water bodies or tanks located near homes. Consequently, Aedes aegypti has invaded urban, suburban and rural areas of many tropical regions.
        In present there is no dengue fever vaccine but exist a lot of projects developing. If for other diseases there are vaccines, a dengue fever vaccine is more difficult to obtain because it has to have a tetravalent composition. Specialists are now working at five possible vaccines in order to obtain the best dengue fever vaccine. So if there is no dengue fever vaccine people should do something to cure the disease and the first step is knowing something about the dengue fever prevention.
        Dengue fever prevention is very important in order to avoid the disease. So you should:

• Cover up: wear long-sleeved shirt tucked into light colored pants, shoes (not slippers) and a hat.
• Apply insect repellent to exposed skin:
• Repellents containing DEET are most effective.
• Follow the manufacturer's instructions.
• Do not apply on irritated skin, cuts or scratches.
• Do not spray directly on face.
• Wash your hands after application to avoid contact with lips and eyes.
• It is not recommended to use products that combine DEET and sunscreen.
• However, if you want to use these two products, apply sunscreen first and let it soak into the skin for 20 minutes before applying insect repellent containing DEET.
• After you return indoors, wash to remove the repellent.
• Sleep under a net, preferably insecticide-treated:
• Make sure the net is intact.
• Tuck net under the mattress.
• Make sure the screen does not affect you (or you might get bitten through the net).
• Consider your accommodations: Stay in a place where all openings are screened or completely enclosed air-conditioned.
• For added protection, apply a repellent containing permethrin on your tents, clothes and other travel accessory:
• Treatment with permethrin is effective for up to two weeks or six washings.
• Permethrin is not sold in Canada, but travel clinics can tell you how to buy permethrin and pretreated material before or during your trip.

        The simplest action for dengue fever prevention is to prevent the birth of a mosquito, since there are no vaccines or medicines that fight infection. For this, we must eliminate the places they choose to play. The basic rule is to not leave water, even it is clean beceuse they stop in any container. As the proliferation of mosquito is fast, in addition to government initiatives, it is important that the population will also collaborate to break the cycle of transmission and contamination. To get an idea in 45 days of life, a single mosquito may infect up to 300 people.
        So the trick is to keep containers such as water tanks, barrels, drums, tanks properly closed. And do not leave standing water in places such as glasses, pots, dishes and pots of plants or flowers, bottles, cans, tires, cooking pots, roof gutters, trays, bowls, drains, drainage, gutters, cement blocks, cemetery urns , leaves of plants, and bamboo stumps, tree holes, and other places where rainwater is collected or stored.
        Remember that the egg of the mosquito can survive up to 450 days, even if the place where the egg was deposited is dry. If the area receives water again, the egg will become active and can reach adulthood in a time between 2 and 3 days. Therefore it is important to remove and wash the containers with soap and water.