Mosquito Holocaust

10 days to departure

One of the jabs we got was for influenza, and as a result, I can honestly say that I have felt better. Now something of an old hand at India, I am preparing a shopping list of essential items required before our departure. 

The first order of the day is sanitation. Hand gel, surface wipes, and bars of soap in mini zip-locks are indispensable. Topping the list for basic first aid is Imodium, followed by rubbing alcohol and aspirin.  

Entertainment is also a major consideration and for this trip we are going fully loaded: iPad, Mac Book and smart phones. I have a veritable library of books in German. A number by Austrian authors (who shall include, for simplicity, Franz Kafka, a new favorite). I'm currently on Brennendes Geheimnis, by Stefan Zweig, a member of the Tribe, and Siddhartha, by another all-time favorite, Hermann Hesse (OK, he was Swiss). The latter I actually read years ago in high school, in English translation, of course. Now I'm tackling it in German, with the cumulative wisdom of my experience and years, all of which brings very special resonance to the book. To be sure, I'll also pick up Bollywood DVDs in situ. 

 And of course, then their is the anti-mosquito kit. This consists of incense coils, room spray, a plug-in device that dissolves a liquid, iPhone mosquito defense app (emits low-level noise to irritate them), and Boots anti-mosquito spray that is 95% DEET, requiring a shower with ample scrubbing before going to bed in a fully fumigated room.  Although there may be some risk to my liver functions later in life, I am chemically impenetrable. 

I developed this admittedly anal multi-pronged approach during my Great Journey in India five years ago. And it really works. I never get bitten, and therefore am at extremely low risk for contracting mosquito-borne illnesses. 

During my four years in Thailand, I visited Myanmar a full seven times, staying with my dear friend Yaron at the Israeli Embassy in Yangon for nearly every Rosh Hashana and Pessach, as well as traveling upcountry. Amazingly, I got a biannual snapshot of Myanmar from the period just after Cyclone Nargis all the way through the political transition. Indeed, on our last trip, Aung San Suu Kyi was elected to parliament the day after we arrived in Yangon. 

Myanmar is the least developed country I have ever visited. What with being tropical, you can imagine that mosquitoes are an issue in every locality, as is dengue fever. Notwithstanding this fact, Yaron invariably expressed opposition to the use of chemical defenses in rooms that we shared while traveling upcountry. I ended up sleeping either under mosquito nets or with repellent on my skin. 

On one of my later trips, Yaron's wife Neichu (from India, fittingly) said that they found my Mosquito Holocaust kit rather amusing. I am not impervious to this observation. But when Yaron asked the whys and wherefores, I explained the following, in somewhat abridged form. 

Dengue

Dengue fever also known as breakbone fever, is an infectious tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles. In a small proportion of cases the disease develops into the life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever, resulting in bleeding, low levels of blood platelets and blood plasma leakage, or into dengue shock syndrome, where dangerously low blood pressure occurs.

Source: Wikipedia

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists (a type of microorganism) of the genus Plasmodium. The protists first infect the liver, then act as parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases progressing to coma or death. The disease is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions in a broad band around the equator, including much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

Source: Wikipedia

My trips to Myanmar actually warrant narration in their own right. But my Great Asian Sojourn began five years ago in India. It is only fitting that on the eve of immigrating to Europe, I should have one last hurrah in India. 

Mosquitoes beware!