At present there is no dandue vaccine; one is currently in development. Even so, developing a vaccine to protect against four closely related viruses that can cause the disease will not be easy.
The best method of prevention is to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes. If you live or travel to an area where dengue exists, there a number of ways to avoid being bitten.
- Clothing - your chances of being bitten are significantly reduced if you exposeas little skin as possible. When in an area with mosquitoes, be sure to wear long trousers/pants, long sleewed shirts, and socks. For further protection, tuck your pant legs in to your shoes or socks. Wear a hat.
- Mosquito repellents - be sure to use one with at least 10% concentration of DEET, you will need a higher concentration a longer you need the protection, avoid using DEET, on young children.
- Use mosquito trap and nets - studies have shown that the risk of being bitten by mosquitos is considerably reduced if you use a mosqitos net when you go to sleep. Untreated nets are significantly less effetive because the mosquito net can bite the host through the net if the person is standing next to it. Also, even tiny holes in the netting are usually enough for the mosquito to find a way in. Net that have been treated with insecticide are much more protective. Not only does the insecticide kill the mosquito and other in other insect, it is also a repellent - fewer mosquitoes are likely to enter the room (s).
- Smell - avoid wearing heavly scented soaps and perfumes.
- Windows - use structural barries, such as window screens or netting.
- Camping - if you are camping, treat cloths, shoes and camping gear with permethrin. There are clothes which have been treated with permethrin.
- Certain times of day - try to avoid being outside at down, dusk and early evening.
- Stagnant water - the Aedes mosquito prefers to breed in clean, stagnant water. It is important to frequently check and remove stagnant water in your home/premises.
- Turn pails (buckets) and watering can over; store them under shelter so water cannot accumulate in them.
- Remove the water from plant pot plates. To remove mosquito egg, clean and scrub them thoroughly. Idealy, do not use plant pot plates.
- Loosen soil from potted plants. This will prevent puddles from developing on the surface of hard soil.
- Donot place receptacles under or on top of any air-conditioning unit.
- Gully traps that are rarely used should be covered; replace gully traps with non-perforated once, and install anti-mosquito values.
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