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Prevention
By Mayo Clinic staffA dengue fever vaccine is in development but isn't generally available. If you're living or traveling in an area where dengue fever is known to be, the best way to avoid dengue fever is to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes that carry the disease.
To reduce your risk of mosquito bites, minimize your exposure to mosquitoes:
- Schedule outdoor activities for times when mosquitoes are less prevalent. Avoid being outdoors at dawn, dusk and early evening, when more mosquitoes are buzzing about.
- Wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants, socks and shoes when you go into mosquito-infested areas.
- Stay in air-conditioned or well-screened housing. Patch screens if necessary, especially where there will be nighttime exposure.
- Apply permethrin-containing mosquito repellent to your clothing, shoes, and camping gear and bed netting. You can also buy clothing made with permethrin already in it.
- Use repellent with a 10 to 30 percent concentration of DEET on your skin. Choose the concentration based on the hours of protection you need — a 10 percent concentration of DEET is effective for about two hours; higher concentrations last longer. However, chemical repellents can be toxic, so use only the amount needed for the time you'll be outdoors.
Don't use DEET on the hands of young children or on infants under 2 months of age. Instead, cover your infant's stroller or playpen with mosquito netting when outside. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, oil of lemon eucalyptus, a more natural product, offers the same protection as DEET when used in similar concentrations.
- Dengue fever overview. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/DengueFever/Understanding/overview.htm. Accessed Aug. 12, 2009.
- Rothman AL. Epidemiology of dengue virus infections. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 12, 2009.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, et al. Dengue hemorrhagic fever - U.S.-Mexico border, 2005. MMWR. 2007;56:31. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5631a1.htm. Accessed Aug. 12, 2009.
- Rothman AL. Clinical presentation and diagnosis of dengue virus infections. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 12, 2009.
- Rothman AL. Prevention and treatment of dengue virus infection. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 12, 2009.
- Dengue and dengue haemorrhagic fever. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs117/en/print.html. Accessed Aug. 12, 2009.
- Zielinski-Gutierrez E, et al. Protection against mosquitoes, ticks, and other insects and arthropods. In: Brunette GW, et al. CDC Health Information for International Travel 2010. Atlanta, Ga.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service; 2009. http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2010/chapter-2/protection-against-mosquitoes-ticks-insects-arthropods.aspx. Accessed Aug. 17, 2009.
- West Nile virus questions and answers: Insect repellent use and safety. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/qa/insect_repellent.htm. Accessed Aug. 17, 2009.
- Tsai T, et al. Flaviviruses (yellow fever, dengue, dengue hemorrhagic fever, Japanese encephalitis, West Nile encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, tick-borne encephalitis). In: Mandell GL, et al. Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2005. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/154687162-3/0/1259/1219.html?tocnode=51380756&fromURL=1219.html#4-u1.0-B0-443-06643-4..50152-5_5152. Accessed Aug. 17, 2009.
