The Buzz About Mosquito Nets

You’ve heard of malaria, but are you familiar with its evil comrade, dengue fever? Like malaria, dengue is spread by mosquitoes. Dengue is incredibly painful and has earned the nickname bone-break fever, because the aches are so severe. Other parts of the world call it bone-crusher disease. Although Honduras has been having a particularly large number of Dengue cases this year, Gracias and its surrounding areas are not typically at high risk for dengue, so it hasn’t been mentioned here before. Last week, however, one of the Manna 4 Lempira communities had an outbreak.

The community contacted Kim Hall and asked for help transporting children to the hospital. Kim recognized the severity of the situation and immediately put out a plea for funds to purchase mosquito bed nets for children in the affected area. Rather than having sponsors purchase netting for their own sponsored children, the paraphrased plea was, “Help if you want to help. We will use the funds in places with the greatest risk.”

The response was generous and Manna 4 Lempira was able to purchase nets for the two most at-risk communities. The project is still open if you are interested in giving. Due to the urgency of this project, donations are going through the Halls' PayPal rather than the Sowers4Pastors website. A donation of $10 can help purchase one net and acetaminophen needed in case of an infection. The PayPal address is:

kames1217@bellsouth.net

Dengue typically strikes low-lying, wet areas with a dense population. The areas served by Manna 4 Lempira/ Sowers4Pastors are higher, typically drier, and not densely populated. Netting will be distributed based on the actual risk to each community.

Strong people are not likely to die from dengue. However, Manna 4 Lempira/ Sowers4Pastors deal with a more vulnerable population. The disease hits especially hard in children suffering from malnutrition.

As mentioned above, Honduras has been having a terrible dengue season. Hospitals are running out of supplies. The official recommendation by multiple health organizations seems to be: Don’t get mosquito bites! It’s a common sense approach that involves wearing long sleeves, avoiding areas with standing water, and using mosquito nets on beds.

In case you’re wondering if there is a vaccine for dengue, a “partially effective” vaccine became available in 11 countries in 2016. Honduras is not one of those countries. Even if it were available, the three recommended doses would cost hundreds of dollars per person. Oh, and it’s only recommended for people who have been previously infected. It is believed it may worsen the outcome for people who have the vaccine prior to a first infection. “Partially effective” seems like a very good way to describe the vaccine! Mosquito netting, on the other hand, is highly effective!

 - posted by Christi