More than 4,300 dengue cases in Bangkok in past six months

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More than 4,300 dengue cases in Bangkok in past six months
Thanatpong Kongsai
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- Dengue fever has hit 4,374 Bangkok residents and claimed one life in the capital during the past six months.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has implemented a variety of measures in a bid to control the disease.

"We will spray chemicals to kill mosquitoes, the carrier of the disease. The next round of spraying will run from [Thursday] until June 30," Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said yesterday.

He was speaking at the Mahanak Mosque in the capital's Pom Prab district. Of all the communities in the district, the Mahanak community has the second highest incidence of dengue.

According to Sukhumbhand, monthly surveys are now conducted to identify mosquito-breeding grounds, which will be eliminated.

"We will also pay special attention to risky places like schools, religious sites and medical facilities. Such places need strict measures to ensure the eradication of mosquito breeding grounds," he added.


-- The Nation 2013-06-18

[Ricardo]

Cue news-release from the TAT, about how this is a major boost to! tourism, and will attract an extra 12.73% more arrivals in the coming year !

[iancnx]

The more the city sinks, the more stagnant water will appear, which unfortunately will provide more opportunities for the mosquito. Chemical apraying is an important element to controlling this mosquito, but just as important is an education campaign for all Thais explaining the disease and the importance of not being bitten in the first place.

[Jasun]

Is chemical spraying the same as 'fogging'? They do that in Singapore a lot and it seems to keep the mozzies away.

[crusader79]

Cue news-release from the TAT, about how this is a major boost to! tourism, and will attract an extra 12.73% more arrivals in the coming year !

The dengue hub!

Edited June 18, 2013 by crusader79

[noitom]

It's on a scale that exceeds Thai management capabilities. The WHO needs to get involved and launch procedures that the Thais must follow. Tourists should take note of this added risk to a visit to Thailand. These numbers are to be taken seriously as a caution.

[Psych01]

Is chemical spraying the same as 'fogging'? They do that in Singapore a lot and it seems to keep the mozzies away.

It is also illegal not to clear all stagnant water, for anyone who owns a property in Singapore.

Edited June 18, 2013 by Psych01

[lemonjelly]

Thai people accept it (dengue fever) as part of life, they contract it, feel rough for a couple of weeks , (most of them) recover and get on with things. Personal protection against the Aedes aegypti mosquito is fairly straightforward as the mosquito only feeds at dawn and dusk, making the use of skin cream/lotion based repellents together with the wearing of long sleeved shirts and long trousers an effective course of preventative action.

Edited June 18, 2013 by lemonjelly

[BigSkookum]

case rates on Samui out there? Lately the mozzies have been a little more aggressive than usual; and not the tiny "noseeum" ones, but visible too; I realize that's not related to the disease, more like the season, but wondering what the rate of infection is here....I use repellent as much as I can (gets expensive as I have very large body ;-)) but even so they're persistent.........there's no preventive shot for dengue is there? I have all the major multi-injections.....

[Thai at Heart]

If they fogged the drains the cloud of mozzies would block the view of Bangkok from satellites.

[dennisgb45]

Thai people accept it (dengue fever) as part of life, they contract it, feel rough for a couple of weeks , (most of them) recover and get on with things

LemonJelly...With all due respect...That is not entirely true. My wife lost 2 nieces aged 10 & 12 about 5 years ago. She and her family take it very seriously. I myself caught Dengue Fever 3 years ago. We have all been bitten by mosquitoes...Impossible to not get bitten by mosquitoes in Thailand. It's just luck whether you get bitten by a carrier. I also had Dengue Fever when I was a GI here in the Vietnam War. YES< you can get it more than once as there are different strains.

I do agree about eradication...but reminds me of Agent Orange...maybe other future problems.

[thomash]

So how safe are these chemicals they

are using?? Maybe more people will die from that in the long run then from

dengue fever.

[belg]

the man on the pic is having a breathing mask... in our moo baan, and everywhere else, they just do it without

so what is just in that fog / smoke they produce, harmfull ? anyone ?

[PEP]

"According to Sukhumbhand, monthly surveys are now conducted to identify mosquito-breeding grounds, which will be eliminated".

Not to worry this is just another T.I.T.

Our local village area has not been mosquito fogged by the Or Bor Tor Dept. for the last year and inspections of household stagnet water by the Anami no longer exists

.

Despite this the tambon Or Bor Tor himself, some family friends ETC (including the wife's sister) have just returned from a holiday which did spend the 200,000Baht allocated!

Shame they have no money for community health.

[biplanebluey]

the man on the pic is having a breathing mask... in our moo baan, and everywhere else, they just do it without

so what is just in that fog / smoke they produce, harmfull ? anyone ?

That's what I want to know.Is it harmfull to pets or fish in small waterlillie jars ANYTHING. Please anyone who knows..NO GUESSING we want to know

[LUSHGOAT]

Thai people accept it (dengue fever) as part of life, they contract it, feel rough for a couple of weeks , (most of them) recover and get on with things. Personal protection against the Aedes aegypti mosquito is fairly straightforward as the mosquito only feeds at dawn and dusk, making the use of skin cream/lotion based repellents together with the wearing of long sleeved shirts and long trousers an effective course of preventative action.

Long sleeve shirts and long pants dont make a blind bit of difference they can still sting through the garments, as I have learned from previous experience I used to spray my clothes with citronella grass repellent which you can buy in BigC and Tesco. Iwas even stung through Denim jeans.

[Fullstop]

I used to live in an apartment block that sprayed/fogged the mozzies once a year. But they never did a follow up spray a couple of days later to get the newly developed 2nd generation that were still wriggling safe in water during the first spray.

I assume the same incompetent procedure is being done in Bangkok?

[Thai at Heart]

the man on the pic is having a breathing mask... in our moo baan, and everywhere else, they just do it without

so what is just in that fog / smoke they produce, harmfull ? anyone ?

That's what I want to know.Is it harmfull to pets or fish in small waterlillie jars ANYTHING. Please anyone who knows..NO GUESSING we want to know

Probably cypermethrin or something similar. Cheap and cheerful.

Various versions found in household bug sprays of varying strengths and safety. It won't kill you, but I wouldn't stand in it either

[Fullstop]

citronella grass repellent

???

Grass can be a nuisance at times I guess.

[MaxYakov]

Thai people accept it (dengue fever) as part of life, they contract it, feel rough for a couple of weeks , (most of them) recover and get on with things. Personal protection against the Aedes aegypti mosquito is fairly straightforward as the mosquito only feeds at dawn and dusk, making the use of skin cream/lotion based repellents together with the wearing of long sleeved shirts and long trousers an effective course of preventative action.

Just so people don't let down their guard, the Aedes aegypti apparently doesn't like direct sunlight. It can operate 24/7/365 - besides its (apparent, preferred) non-direct sunlight situations, according to a CDC traveler's guide (via Wiki):

Although aedes aegypti mosquitoes most commonly bite at dusk and dawn, indoors, in shady areas, or when the weather is cloudy, "they can bite and spread infection all year long and at any time of day."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aedes_aegypti

Edited June 18, 2013 by MaxYakov

[Fullstop]

New fashion trend for Thailand expats.

[davidstipek]

From first hand experience, I know where a lot of these Mossies are coming from and will continue to come. When the Government/Military did the river projects. Move the river back to original locations built up banks etc. After flooding, they left the old areas with pools of water, that refill everytime it rains. We have property that this was done on, so I am speaking with first hand experience.

After every rain we get Mossies, thick! and as long as the water stands they continue to multiply. After I caught the fever I desided to try something on the largest pool of water less then 2.5 inches deep and full of wigglies (larva) , this pool was almost 1/2 the size of a football field. I poured 5 gallon of kerosene on it, Lite an oily rag and proceded to lite the pool. The kerosene burned for 1 hour, was supervised as this pool was 6-8 meters below tops of old river banks. within 30 minutes the larvea searching for air surfaced and was fried, same with eggs. Ater kerosene was totally burn't off, survey of water pools did not show one live larve! Water sample (glass jar) normally showed 2-3 dozen eggs and about same Larva... showed nothing, this was after 7-8 samples taken!

If you want to eliminate, you don't have to be this radical... but you do need to break the chain! eliminate the eggs!

I had informed the Government here as well as the Medical... They acted like Ahaa... More money for hospitals! I don't think anyone had any idea it would grow to the strength it has!

Fogging just drives swarms away from sprayer, they will hide high in trees until breeze has cleared the air below. Most of the time this same breeze just moves them to a new location as they asend. So it looks as if they cleansed the area... wrong! You need to eliminate the breading areas, Larva an eggs. If they are airborne other then personal protection and a few days they will have lived their lifespan and die.

Other then that, some people will try anything to collect money to line their pockets.... Think about it... Where we are, why would this be any different??

As a result the little Village area around this area has had "Zero" cases in past 3 months. You can sit out at night and view Bonfire and not be bitten now... So I know what worked!!

Edited June 18, 2013 by davidstipek

[Chrisswe]

I feel very sorry for this uneducated people's !!! For god sake, atleast start checking your WASTE HANDLING SYSTEM !!!!!!

[Chrisswe]

I feel very sorry for this uneducated people's !!! For god sake, atleast start checking your WASTE HANDLING SYSTEM !!!!!!

[ginjag]

I wonder how many cases there will be when the flood water decends on the capitol.--Big rain up north already.( NE).

No flaming wonder with the filth and stagnent water around--- ( NO MONEY FOR KEEP CLEAN) makes me sick when I see families sitting around next to filth,

It's a hot country-with plenty of moisture/water waiting for the mozzies, feel sorry for the kids here as their parents in general have no interest. These are the folks who sweep the house 10 times a day but hardly venture outside to tend to the tin shed where the toilet is. bleach and dettol are not heard of.. sorry for anyone thinks I amknocking Thailand, but most houses have cigs -mobiles-tv-motor bikes.

Please tell me WHY they put up with a Toilet in the state that most are in ??? sorry kids-really

[chaihot]

It's on a scale that exceeds Thai management capabilities. The WHO needs to get involved and launch procedures that the Thais must follow. Tourists should take note of this added risk to a visit to Thailand. These numbers are to be taken seriously as a caution.

I sat at Shabushi one night with a foreigner next to me. He was looking for someone to converse with I guess ... and began chatting away with me.

He was "on loan" from the CDC? I believe in the USA. He was part of a group of x-number of scientists who are loaned to Asian countries each year for 2-3 months to work with Mosquito eradication issues.

In between chopsticks full of mushrooms and vegetables, he told me that his expertise was in breeding new species of mosquitos in the wild that were infertile and had shorter life spans. Supposedly males die soon after mating (poor guys) and having them mate with infertile females can have a major affect on the population.

He talked for an hour. Perhaps I should have paid more attention ... but that is all I really got out of it.

[hawker9000]

IMO, the single scariest thing about a visit to Thailand right now... My repellant collection is growing.

[Longtooth]

New fashion trend for Thailand expats.

Not adequate for massage parlours.

[Longtooth]

I feel very sorry for this uneducated people's !!! For god sake, atleast start checking your WASTE HANDLING SYSTEM !!!!!!

Yes, they're breeding and living in the settling tank. I have sprayed down the vent pipe and in the hatch. Many Mozzies. What could you dump in that would not harm the "good bacteria" that break down the solids in there?

[MaxYakov]

I feel very sorry for this uneducated people's !!! For god sake, atleast start checking your WASTE HANDLING SYSTEM !!!!!!

This would include the fridge defrost water collector, at the lower, rear on my five-year-old Panasonic. I once found alive and well larvae in a small drip-catcher that was underneath a leaky kitchen sink drain flex hose. That was about the time I found one had drowned in my coffee!