Diseases carried by mosquito
The mosquito is often a carrier of diseases such as malaria, encephalitis, yellow fever, dengue fever, dog heartworm, West Nile virus, and many others. The females, who drink blood, can carry disease from one animal to another as they feed.
The World Health Organization says about fifty million people suffer from
dengue fever each year. There is no cure. Children may develop
a kind of the disease that is not serious. They may have a high body temperature
and some areas of skin may turn red.
Older people suffer from dengue fever much more. They may develop reddish
skin and lose their sense of taste. They also may have terrible pain in the
head or behind their eyes. And they may experience pain in joints such as
the elbow or knee. This kind of joint pain is the reason why dengue fever
is sometimes known as breakbone fever.
The most severe kind of the disease is called Dengue Hemorrhagic
fever. People who have this disease bleed from the nose or other openings
in the body. Dengue Hemorrhagic fever kills about five percent of all people
it infects. The only treatment involves controlling the bleeding and replacing
lost body fluids.
Yellow fever is another disease carried by mosquitoes. There
are no effective drugs against yellow fever. Doctors can only hope that a
person’s defense system is strong enough to fight the disease. The World
Health Organization says there are an estimated two hundred thousand cases
of yellow fever each year. It is found mainly in Africa, northern South America
and the islands of the Caribbean Sea.
A few days after a mosquito bite, the victim experiences high body temperature
and pain in the head or muscles. Victims also may expel food they ate. Most
patients improve after three to four days.
However, fifteen percent of patients develop a more serious condition. High
body temperatures re-appear and the body turns yellow in color. The victim
bleeds from the nose, mouth, eyes or stomach. Half the people with this condition
die within ten to fourteen days.
Mosquitoes also carry lymphatic filariasis, a disease commonly
known as elephantiasis. The disease has already affected
more than one hundred and twenty million people. One third of those infected
live in India. Another one third are in Africa. The others live in South Asia,
the Pacific Ocean, or the western half of the world.
Mosquito bites spread the worms that cause elephantiasis. People usually begin
to develop the disease as children. Many children never experience signs of
the disease, but it may cause hidden damage to the body’s lymphatic
system and kidneys.
The worst signs of elephantiasis appear in adults. The signs are more common
in men than in women. These include damage to the arms, legs, and reproductive
organs. Two drugs are effective in treating the disease. Experts say that
keeping the affected areas clean can decrease the damage and reduce the number
of times that it takes place.
Another disease carried by mosquitoes is encephalitis. It
causes an infection or swelling of the brain. Many different viruses cause
different kinds of the disease. One virus lives naturally in birds and horses.
Mosquitoes spread it to people. Mosquitoes in several Asian countries spread
a kind of encephalitis known as Japanese encephalitis. A vaccine can prevent
this sickness.
Other kinds include West Nile encephalitis, Saint
Louis encephalitis and Eastern Equine encephalitis. Most healthy
people infected with the virus either show no symptoms or they become sick
for only a day or two. But those with weak natural defenses may develop a
severe infection. They may suffer from high body temperature, headache, shaking
and even death.