Avoiding dengue
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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
There's hardly any dengue fever in the United States - at least, for now. But you can find a lot elsewhere - it's the world's most common viral disease carried by mosquitoes. This means travelers can get infected in other countries, and bring the disease back with them.
Although dengue rarely kills people, it can make them awfully sick, with flu-like symptoms and worse, such as shock and bleeding. So, at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Christopher Gregory says the best strategy is to keep from being infected:
"Wearing long-sleeved clothing, using DEET-containing repellents, eliminating potential mosquito breeding sites by routinely emptying water-filled containers, and having screened windows and doors are effective means of reducing the risk of contracting dengue." (12 seconds)
Learn more at hhs.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.