Dengue fever is a word that we often read in newspapers and healthcare journals, but one person doesn’t understand the depth of this vector-borne disease unless we get the first-hand experience. I was also among the large number of people who know what is dengue fever, but never thought too hard about it, and taking precautions for dengue was never in my mind.

However, things changed for the better last year when my mother was diagnosed with dengue fever. Today, when I think about the first week of October 2019, my thoughts immediately went to the dreadful call that I received from my dad, stating that my mother has been hospitalized, so I have to rush home from college to attend my younger siblings.

In 2019, around 67,000 dengue fever cases were recorded in India, but when your loved one is part of the statistics, you can actually feel the weightage of it. My family and I have experienced it, and we don’t want anyone else to suffer – the way we had to; thus, I would like to share my tested dengue prevention tips with everyone.

First Knock of Dengue Fever

My mother had a mild fever for two days, and she didn’t think much about it and took regular fever medicine available at home. But, eventually, on the third day, she was unable to bear joint pain, so she called my father at work, and he immediately took her to our family doctor. After running multiple tests, the doctor diagnosed my mother with dengue fever and recommended to get hospitalized immediately because her platelet count was already 50,000.

Once my mother – sailor of our boat, was hospitalized, the real stressful journey began for us. From managing the home to regular hospital visits – my dad and I had a real field day. Fortunately, my mother’s dengue fever was detected at an early stage, so she was realized from the hospital after two days once her platelet count was stable.

Her real dengue fever recovery journey starts after that, and it took almost a full month for recovery. The common dengue fever symptoms like intense headache, nausea, mucosal bleeding, and severe joint pains might have stopped after a week, but she had to face multiple dengue fever recovery problems for almost a month such as –

Hair Loss – My mother was going through hormonal changes when a dengue mosquito bit her. The combination of dengue fever and hormonal stress resulted in the development of alopecia. She had developed a small patch on her head due to excessive hair loss. It is often noticed that hair fall increases for 1-2 months after dengue fever.

Low Immunity – Dengue fever took a severe toll on my mother’s immunity as she fell sick multiple times throughout the last winters. From the common cold to swollen joints, she had to go through various health problems due to one dengue mosquito bite.

Nutritional Deficiency – When my mother’s lower back pain got worse in last December, her doctor recommended to run a nutritional deficiency test. And, shockingly, she had Vitamin D deficiency despite spending a decent amount of time under the sun. According to the doctor, it is common to develop nutritional deficiencies after dengue fever.

Overall, the first knock of dengue fever has been quite alarming for my family, and we started taking precautions for the dengue virus super seriously. And, we advise everyone to take dengue prevention tips seriously because dengue mosquito is always around you, so stay cautious.

Effective Precautions for Dengue Virus

One important thing that I have learned from my mother’s dengue fever recovery journey is you have to take responsibility. Yep, you can’t leave everything in the hands of governments or medical facilities; you have to play your role to protect your family and neighbors from dengue mosquito. You have to perform basic dengue prevention activities to control dengue such as –

Precaution #1. Don’t Let Water Stand

Prevention is always better than cure – golden dengue prevention rule. If there’s no dengue mosquito, you will not feel sick in the first place – simple. It is common knowledge that dengue mosquito breed in the clean standing water. So, if you don’t let water stand for too long anywhere near your home or even neighbourhood, you can easily prevent dengue fever and don’t have to use mosquito killer ever.

In my personal experience, standing water has been the root cause of my mother’s dengue fever. My mother loves to spend time in our small home garden where water often stands while watering plants or due to rain.  And, that’s where dengue mosquito breeds and unfortunately bite my mother. Thus, now we never let water stand anywhere inside and outside our home, and that has been quite helpful.

Precaution #2. Use Mosquito Killer 

Mosquito is one sneaky insect – no matter how many precautions you take, mosquitoes can find their way inside your home. Thus, the most effective precautions for dengue virus is using mosquito killer. With mosquito killer, you can instantly kill malaria, chikungunya, and dengue mosquito to protect your family.

When I asked my mother’s doctor to suggest the best dengue prevention tip, he suggested to frequently spray mosquito killer inside as well as outside. Today, there are plenty of different mosquito killer sprays available in the market, so I further probed our family doctor to suggest the best brand. He instantly advised me to buy Godrej Kala HIT because –

• It can instantly kill dengue mosquito
• It is easy to use
• Don’t have side effects on humans (when used in the prescribed manner)
• It has a long term impact

Once I start using Kala HIT Lime in my home, I have experienced a huge downfall in the number of mosquitoes. In fact, we haven’t received mosquito sting in a very long time now, for which we are very thankful.

Precaution #3. Frequently Use Mosquito Killer

After lockdown, I visited my maternal aunt for a weekend and noticed that she doesn’t use Godrej Kala HIT every day. When did I ask her why? Then, her reply was epic, ‘We only spray Kala HIT every Sunday.’  That amused me for a minute and then alarmed me, so I instantly sprayed mosquito killer to protect myself.

Now, instant Kala HIT Lime is a very powerful mosquito killer, but you have to use it daily; otherwise, you won’t get complete protection. The mosquito can enter your home from anywhere and anytime, so you need to be fully prepared. It is advised by Godrej experts that you should use Kala HIT precisely at 6 pm daily as Aedesaegypti is a day-biting mosquito. Thus, when you use Kala hit in the evening, you can stop dengue mosquito from breeding. However, you can spray mosquito killers anytime but do that daily.

Precaution #4. Wear Full Clothes

One of the common dengue prevention tips would be fully covering your body. Especially when you are going out, you should wear a full sleeve top and pant since your hands and legs are easily accessed by the dengue mosquito, so the simple prevention is to wear full clothes.

When you are going for a morning walk or yoga session, you should ensure that your body is fully covered because the mosquito can attack you anytime. If your kids go out in the evening to play, make sure to fully cover them because dengue mosquito doesn’t even spare kids. Now, this might ruin your fashion statement but don’t forget health is wealth – people.

Precaution #5. Plant Mosquito Repelling Plants

My mother adores her little kitchen garden as the majority of her time is spent there. But, after dengue fever, she was so scared to visit her own garden because of the mosquito bite fear. When she got to know that dengue fever can easily happen again, and the second time might be even deadlier, she simply stopped visiting her garden.

It really broke my heart because I know how much my mother adores her plants. But, I found a way to kill two birds with one arrow – by planting mosquito repellent plants in our garden, I removed my mother’s hesitation and protected our family from mosquitoes in one go.

There are so many different plants available that can repel mosquitoes, such as lavender, marigolds, catnip, rosemary, basil, bee balm, scented geraniums, and many more. By planting mosquito-repelling plants, you can create a beautiful garden as well as prevent dengue.

Precaution #6. Clean and Cover Dustbins

To control or prevent dengue fever infection, you should keep your dustbins and other waste material fully covered. Try to dispose of your kitchen and other domestic waste daily because germs present on waste attracts mosquitoes. It is a very common principle – the more you maintain hygiene level, the better you can prevent dengue.

At our home, we have a very simple rule – we daily dispose of kitchen and bathroom dustbin. Plus, leaving dirty dishes is a big no-no in my mother’s kitchen. With the basic hygiene steps, you can easily make your home a dengue free zone.

Precaution #7. Keep your Doors and Windows Fully Sealed

If you don’t want dengue mosquito to enter inside your home, you have to make sure that your doors and windows are fully sealed. Never leave your doors or windows open for too long without a screen protector. For a mosquito, a small crack or gap between door hinges is sufficient to enter your home; thus, check your doors and windows frequently.

For a person like me who loves fresh sunlight in my bedroom, it was a big issue to keep my windows and doors fully closed. But, once we install net screen protectors on our doors and windows, it really becomes easy for me to enjoy morning sunlight.

Precaution #8. Treat Dark Corners

Mostly, dengue mosquito or any other mosquito hides in the dark corners, such as behind the curtains, under the bed, sink, wardrobe, etc. Simply, if you have a dark corner in your home, there are high chances that mosquitoes are partying there. Thus, when you are using Kala HIT to kill mosquitoes instantly, you should treat dark corners first.

When I spray Kala lime hit at home, I precisely make sure to cover all the corners first because once mosquitoes from corners are killed, your entire home will automatically get rid of mosquitoes. I have mapped out all the darker corners at my home, such as under the fridge, behind the bed, under the dining table, and around the bathroom sink. Your home might have different dark corners, so you should chalk out all your dark areas before spraying Godrej Kala HIT.

Precaution #9. Boost your Immunity

Deadly viruses like dengue and corona have shown us the importance of strong immunity. If you have strong immunity, you don’t get infected by the strong viruses, or you don’t get severely sick. Thus, the best dengue precaution would be boosting your immunity by eating a balanced diet, doing exercise daily, and bring a positive change in your lifestyle.

Now, my mother might have suffered a lot because of dengue fever, but her condition was far better than many dengue patients simply because she consumes a well-balanced diet and does yoga daily. Her healthy lifestyle approach helped in winning the battle against dengue fever. Additionally, in her recovery phase, she ate citrusy fruits and nutritional veggies along with dengue medication to heal quickly. For long term dengue prevention, work on your immunity.

Precaution #10. Stay Cautious While Sleeping

While sleeping, you are highly exposed to dengue mosquito bites because you are still, which makes it easy for mosquitoes to attack you. That’s why you should not leave your guards down even while sleeping. For instance, if you are sleeping outside during summertime, you should use a mosquito net and mosquito killer. However, it doesn’t matter whether you are sleeping inside or outside, spray Godrej Kala HIT around your bed every day, and you will never wake up with multiple mosquito bite marks.

Stay Safe, Stay Happy

If you want to take away any lesson from my mother’s dengue fever recovery journey, that would be to follow all the dengue precautions to the dot. You should not wait like us for anyone to feel sick in your family before adopting preventions. That’s because dengue might infect one family member, but it can create problems for the whole family. So, stay safe, and there isn’t much to do – just use Godrej Kala HIT daily.

You can also check Hit mosquito racket killer for killing mosquitoes that will ultimately help to control and prevent dengue fever.