Mosquitoes

Mosquitoes !!
Did you know ??

        Mosquitoes don't have teeth.
                  Female mosquitoes can lay up to 300 eggs at a time.
                              A mosquito can drink up to three times its 
                               weight in blood.
                                            Malaria is caused by a parasite that 
                                            lives in mosquitoes.
                                                        The bumps from mosquito 
                                                         bites are caused by saliva.

What is Mosquitoes ??

• Mosquitoes are major contributors of several diseases throughout the world.
• Mosquitoes can pass along these diseases to humans by biting them.
• Only female mosquitoes bite to nourish their eggs .
• Only certain species of mosquitoes carry diseases.

Types of Mosquitoes

1. Aedes
2. Culex
3. Mansonia
4. Anopheles

What is dengue fever ?

• Dengue fever is a viral illness spread by the dengue mosquito (Aedes aegypti).
• It is a mosquito-borne infection that causes a severe flu-like illness.
• There are four different viruses that can cause dengue fever.

      -- type 1, 2, 3 and 4

• Which can cause dengue fever, all of which spread is by a certain type of mosquito.
• These viruses are related to the viruses that cause West Nile infection and yellow fever.

How do the fever spread ?

• Dengue mosquitoes are not born with the dengue virus. 
• When a dengue mosquito bites someone who is sick with dengue fever, that mosquito is infected and becomes a carrier of the virus.
• Once the mosquito is a carrier, it can spread the virus to other people by biting them.
• The mosquitoes carry the virus for life and can infect many people.
• The dengue virus does not spread directly from person to person.

Incubation period 

• People get sick 3 to 14 days after being bitten by an infected dengue mosquitoes.

Symptoms

• sudden fever and extreme tiredness
• intense headache (especially behind the eyes)
• muscle and joint pain
• loss of appetite
• vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain
• a metallic taste in the mouth
• red or macular (small, flat red spots) rash occurs in half of cases
• minor bleeding from nose and gums

Prevention

• There is no vaccine to prevent dengue fever. 
• The best way to prevent the disease is to prevent bites by infected mosquitoes.

To protect yourself:

• Stay away from heavily populated residential areas, if possible.
• Use mosquito repellents, even indoors.
• When outdoors, wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants tucked into socks.
• When indoors, use air conditioning if available.
• Make sure window and door screens are secure and free of holes. If sleeping areas are not screened or air conditioned, use mosquito nets.
• If you have symptoms of dengue, speak to your doctor.

YouTube

**STOP Breeding Dengue**

Did you know ??

      90% of malaria deaths occur in Africa.
                   Malaria also contributes greatly to anaemia 
                    among children.
                                Malaria is both preventable and treatable, and 
                                effective preventive and curative tools have
                                 been developed. 

What is Malaria ??

• Malaria is a life-threatening blood disease caused by a parasite that is transmitted to humans by the Anopheles mosquito. 
• Malaria is a common but deadly infection in hot, tropical areas of the world.
• Malaria (although rarely) can also occur in temperate climates.

Types of malaria

There are five types of malaria:

•        Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax)
•        Plasmodium malariae (P. malariae)
•        Plasmodium ovale (P. ovale)
•        Plasmodium falciparum (P. faliparum)
•        Plasmodium knowlesi (P. knowlesi)

Mode of transmission

• Malaria is transmitted normally via the bite of an infected mosquito. 
• These mosquitoes, always female and of the genus Anopheles, carry malaria parasites in their salivary glands.
• The parasites, at this part of their life cycle known as sporozoites, are introduced into the host’s blood when the mosquito takes a blood meal. 
• From there, the sporozoites travel to the liver, reproduce (this process may take several weeks), then finally re-enter the blood stream.

Human-to-human transmission of malaria

• As the parasite exists in human red blood cells, malaria can be passed on from one person to the next through organ transplant, shared use of needles/syringes, and blood transfusion. 
• An infected mother may also pass malaria on to her baby during delivery (birth) - this is called 'congenital malaria'.

Incubation period

• Malaria is an acute febrile illness with an incubation period of 7 days or longer. 
• Thus, a febrile illness developing less than 1 week after the first possible exposure is not malaria.     

Symptoms

• A high temperature (fever) of 38°C (100.4°F) or above (occurs at regular times)
• Vomiting
• Sweating and shivers (also known as rigors) 
• Body & Muscle pains
• Headaches
• Diarrhoea
• In some cases, it can affect the brain or kidneys. 

Preventing
There is an ABCD for prevention of malaria. 

• Awareness of risk of malaria.
• Bite prevention.
• Antimalarial medication - Chemoprophylaxis (taking antimalarial medication exactly as prescribed).
• Prompt Diagnosis and treatment.

Prevention Is Better Than Cure

YouTube

**(The Malaria Lifecycle-human stages)**

**(The Malaria lifecycle-mosquitoes stages)**

Thank You