Memorial Day means summer is on the horizon for the northern hemisphere, where many of us will be stocking up on sunscreen and dousing ourselves in bug spray. For those of us living in drier climates, mosquito bites are usually just an annoyance. But the reality for people in tropical or subtropical areas is very different— a fateful mosquito bite can have deadly consequences. More than one million lives are claimed by mosquito-borne illnesses like malaria, Zika virus, chikungunya and dengue fever each year. To make matters worse, extreme rainfall and weather patterns caused by climate change are extending mosquito season and expanding their breeding grounds.
This expansion makes the need for health information on malaria and other diseases spread by mosquitoes greater than ever. As these diseases emerge in new areas, more people will need to know how to protect themselves and their communities. Several Hesperian books address how to prevent diseases from mosquitoes, please share this information widely with your networks.
- The NEW Where There Is No Doctor expands the information on mosquito-borne illnesses in the original book to include several other diseases and preventative measures to reduce mosquito breeding. You can find this in our HealthWiki in Bangla, Chinese, English, Khmer, Lao, Haitian Kreyol and Portuguese.
- Chapter 8: Health Problems from Mosquitoes in Community Guide to Environmental Health discusses how to eliminate mosquito breeding sites in your home and community and how to spot, treat and prevent malaria, yellow fever and dengue fever.
- Our Zika Virus fact sheet is available in English, French, Haitian Kreyol, Portuguese, and Spanish for free!
