Chikungunya is a growing health anxiety throughout the world. Every monsoon more and more people are becoming a target for diseases such as Chikungunya and Dengue. These both viral diseases are caused by the Aedes mosquito.

Chikungunya is a preventable disease. Hidoc recommends few precautionary measures to prevent the mosquito bites that causes the disease.

Prevention

The best way to prevent Chikungunya disease is to avoid mosquito bites and control breeding of mosquitoes. Here are few simple steps to prevent this disease:

Control Mosquito Population

The disease is caused by mosquitoes; hence, it is essential to control the mosquito population. The most common breeding area of Aedes mosquito is stagnant water. Stagnant water can be found anywhere such as water in flower vases, discarded tyres, uncovered buckets and cans, coconut shells, and construction dumpsters. Therefore, it is important to often check and remove stagnant water from home and premises.

Avoid Stagnant Water

• Turn buckets and watering cans over, store them under shelter so that water won’t accumulate in them.
• Take away the water from plant pots. Clean and Scrub the pots thoroughly to remove the mosquito eggs.
• Loosen the soil to avoid puddles from developing on the surface of the ground.
• Change the water and scrub the flower vases from inside thoroughly.
• Avoid growth of puddles and stagnant water by removing leaves and dirt.
• Do not gather old tyres, water tanks, and plastic containers as these are the breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
• Clean Water tanks and keep all water resources completely covered.
• Coconut shells should not be left lying around to avoid the accumulation of water.
• Empty the construction dumpster at least once a week to break up the mosquito life cycle.

Clothing

You can defend yourself against mosquito bites by wearing protective clothing such as long pants and long-sleeved shirts. Moreover, mosquitoes are attracted to body heat; hence, it is recommended to wear light colored clothes that don’t absorb too much heat.

Mosquito Repellents

It is important to use mosquito repellents regularly to avoid mosquito bites. Repellents are used in numerous ways such as:

• Use natural repellents such as lavender, neem oil, and cinnamon oil. Apply these liquids on your body to keep mosquitoes away.
• Various plants have mosquito repellent properties such as feverfew, citronella, catnip, and lavender. Plant them around the house to keep mosquitoes at bay.
• Use repellent coils to keep mosquitoes away. Coil repellents containing at least 10% concentration of DEET (diethyltoluamide) are recommended.
• Use mosquito nets while sleeping. It is the most efficient measure to keep mosquitoes at bay at night.
• Permethrin (Cream) can be applied to clothes, shoes, campaign gear and bed nets to repel mosquitoes at work.

Doors and Windows

Make sure that the window and door screens do not have any holes. Block all holes to prevent mosquitoes. For windows, Hidoc recommends using structural barriers such as window screens or netting.