Dengue fever ‘red alert’ declared in Taipei City
Shezidao (社子島) of Shilin District (士林) has had several cases of dengue fever recently.
Residents should empty containers of stagnant water such as water catch trays under potted plants on their balconies and roofs, use mosquito repellant, and seek medical treatment and testing for dengue fever if they have any of these symptoms: fever, joint pain or a skin rash.
Not only that. They’re also threatening fines starting from NT$60,000 if you refuse to let workers into your house to spray highly toxic insecticide inside your property.
Aedes albopictus is the culprit, and it’s the adult, not the larvae that spread the disease (by transferring a tiny speck of blood from infected to not-yet-infected people when they bite). of course, the best way to control them is by stopping them breeding locally they breed in tiny patches of water, even less than an inch deep.
killing as many of the adults as possible also helps. memorable black and white striped legs and body, and decent sized but not enormous. weak flyer, so local control is very effective. bites all day long, especially dawn and dusk, but not at night much
ohhh my
I just spent the night in hospital with a fever of 42. Because it got so high they had to do a gazillion tests to see if it damaged my kidneys etc…
I have never ever felt this sick…I was in and out of this floating mode and struggled to remember things that just happened. Luckily all the tests were fine, except that my white blood cells are a bit high…
I still don’t feel right…It feels as if Im not in my body at all…fever SUCKS.
ps. I dont have Dengue fever though!
Battery9 - I hope you get better soon. 42*C is scary, scary, scary.
Dengue Fever - In Singapore, they control dengue fever by making sure there is no standing water (mosquito breeding heaven). If you have standing water on your propety (plant pots, bowls, backed up drains) you get fined. There are health inspectors whose job is to check property to make sure this basic sanitation is taken care of. Walking around Taipei, I’m always amazed at how much standing water there is. Of course, Taipei still has open sewers so it’s probably beyond hope that the gov’t/people would take care of the mostquito breeding problem.
Dengue scares the crap out of me. I believe it was called “break-bone” fever back in the colonial days because of the pain it caused.
[quote=“Battery9”]ohhh my
I just spent the night in hospital with a fever of 42. [/quote]
Ouch! Glad to hear it’s not dengue, though – hope you recover quickly!
BTW, just how toxic IS that stuff they spray for the mosquitoes?
Sounds like joggers and bikers should avoid this bike trail, especially around early morning and evening, for the next week or two, or at least use mosquito repellent very liberally:
“Since Shezidao is next to a biking trail adjacent to the Tamsui and Keelung rivers, many people go there to exercise by biking, walking, jogging or doing tai chi,” source