What should you know about dengue protection?

Mosquitoes that spread dengue can bite during the day as well as at other times, so protection should continue beyond sleeping hours. Use repellent, cover arms and legs, and keep doors and windows screened where possible. Empty or cover water-holding items near the home because they can support mosquito breeding. If one household member is ill, preventing additional bites may help reduce the chance that mosquitoes carry the virus onward.

Choose a repellent according to its label, use a bed net when appropriate, and inspect balconies, gardens, and containers for standing water. Keep a simple record of fever, drinking, urine, pain, and bleeding. A person with suspected dengue should rest, drink fluids if able, and use only clinician-advised medicines. A GP Consultation can help clarify testing, monitoring, and safe symptom relief.

Get urgent care for bleeding, easy bruising with worsening illness, severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, fainting, confusion, breathing trouble, marked weakness, or reduced urine. Fever with headache, muscle aches, joint pain, or chills deserves medical advice when dengue exposure is possible, especially for a child, pregnant person, older adult, or someone with a chronic condition.

Ask how to protect other household members, which symptoms require urgent review, what to drink, and whether your current medicines should be changed.