You must have heard of the ‘Swachh Bharat” campaign. There is a reason why most of the population in supporting this campaign. The dirty and unclean surrounding attracts a great number of pest infestation. People avoid paying attention to the problem until they fall prey to it. One of the pests that are causing more and more people to admit to the hospital is mosquitoes. Most of the time, they are seen making the national headlines in the newspaper.
With the outbreak of several deadly diseases, mosquitoes are common pests that affect our daily lifestyle. The buzzing sound in the evening is enough to send us into a frenzy. Here is a list of dangerous diseases that mosquitoes can cause. Knowing about the diseases in detail will help you understand why we need to curb mosquito infestation immediately with mosquito control.
Some of the Deadliest Diseases caused by Mosquitoes
Malaria
The culprit causing malaria is the infected Anopheles mosquito. The virus responsible for causing malaria are the Plasmodium genus. Such as P. falciparum, P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. vivax. Malaria is counted on the list as one of the deadliest diseases in the world. With the efforts of the medical facilities in India, there is a 49% reduction in malaria cases. This disease could lead to one’s death as well if the proper medical facility is not provided to the patient on time. It is said to affect the brain leading to the death of the patient. The symptoms of this disease include:
- Shaking chills with profuse sweating
- High fever
- Muscle pain
- Headache
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Convulsions, and others
Dengue
Dengue is one of the deadliest diseases caused due to mosquito bites. It is caused by a specific mosquito species, Aedes aegypti. It is the female mosquito that transmits the virus to humans. It can affect a person several times in their lifetime. A person affected with dengue becomes seriously ill as the platelet count drops dangerously. The virus sticks to the vector and when it bites the person, the virus gets transferred to the human which takes a week or so to show the symptoms. The symptoms of this disease include:
- Severe headache in the frontal lobe
- Pain behind the eyes
- High fever
- Vomiting
- Joint and muscle pains
- In serious cases, multi-organ failure
After too much hard work and efforts of various scientists, the fatality ratio of this disease has decreased to 0.2% and that is a relief. So, to prevent yourself from getting dengue you need to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes, especially during the daytime. As soon as you notice the symptoms of this disease, admit yourself to the hospital immediately.
Japanese Encephalitis
Around 5 years back, Japanese encephalitis was wreaking havoc in all of India. Especially parents of the toddlers were busy getting the vaccine shots for their kids. For this disease, again, the main culprits are mosquitoes. The infected mosquitoes spread the virus from one person to another. The mosquitoes responsible for the spread of this disease are Culextritaeniorhynchus who hosts inside domestic pigs. The flooded rice fields, marshes, and places with stagnant water are the breeding grounds of these mosquitoes. The symptoms of this disease include:
- High fever
- Headache
- Stiff neck
- Nausea
- Tremors
- Vomiting, and
- Spastic paralysis
This particular disease causes severe complications in the patient’s weakness on the side of the body, uncontrollable emotions, deafness, etc. The worst news is that there is no cure or treatment for this disease. The vaccine is out and is given free to all those under the age of 15 years.
Chikungunya
Chikungunya was a serious disease when it shook the world around 10 years back. It is also caused by the mosquito bite. This is basically caused after infected Aedes aegypti mosquito bites a healthy human. The main symptoms of this disease include:
- Vomiting
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Joint pain
- Headache
The people recovering from the disease were said to have various physical deformities and persistent joint pains.
Ways to Deal with Mosquito Infestation
After looking at the deadly diseases caused by the mosquitoes, no one would want to have these mosquitoes close to their premises. The one and the only way to deal with the problem is to take care of the mosquito infestation. It is noticed that after rains pass the count of mosquitoes increases drastically. And that is mainly because of the collection of stagnant water that becomes the breeding ground for the mosquitoes. If they are not taken care of promptly, then it could increase the problem caused by the mosquito infestation. For this, you can ask the pest control company in Chennai to help you out. After all the prevention is always better than cure.
Take Care of Stagnant
One of the main issues of concern is stagnant water. After the rain, the collected water becomes a breeding ground for the mosquitoes who lay their eggs here. So, remove this collected water and sprinkle bleaching powder in the affected area. This way you could kill the larvae and eggs to eradicate the chances of mosquito infestation.
Dump it Out
Once the rain commences make sure all the containers or things where the water can get collected should be removed immediately. The tarps, outdoor equipment will have small outlets where the water can collect easily. Flower pots are one such places where the water can collect and become a good breeding ground for these little nuisances. Take out time to clean them up occasionally, especially after rain.
Clean Litter
If you want to prevent mosquito infestation, it is important to run a litter patrol. Remove the litter on the weekly basis and do so without fail. The water holder for the pet should be cleaned every now and then. Bottles, cans, deflated balls, cups, etc. should be discarded immediately. Clean them twice a week during the rainy season to curb the growth of the mosquito infestation. One of the best ways to clean the place up is by sprinkling the baking soda and then washing it off with warm water. This will take care of the bacteria and the stench also.
