Chikungunya

On the lighter side of a serious issue, maybe 3 years ago I was sitting having dinner at Rufo's, and he was quite busy. The spray truck came by not once but twice, after which bugs started dropping out of the palapa roof onto the tables...the boss wasn't happy....

This ARTICLE explains that of the two, only the latter causes extreme arthritis pain in joints.

While bemoaning the lack of municipal mosquito control, wouldn't it also be a good time to promote wider spread use of nets and repellants?

With its possible life-long effects, Chikungunya sure sounds nasty. Ironic that victims of bites from the wrong mosquitos might pray it's "only" dengue.

The article you've linked says that NSAID's should be avoided for symptomatic relief - at least in the case of chikungunya - but Wikipedia suggests their use is appropriate. Since the disease was apparently only identified in 1955, there's obviously a lot to learn.

Any place where it was considered prudent to sleep under mosquito nets and apply repellent 24 hours a day would not be at the top of our list of vacation destinations. We used a net a few years ago while staying at Casa Loma Bonita overlooking Playa La Madera, but it stifled any breeze to the point where we got rid of it. Then it was mosquito coils and repellent every night. Like many other couples, the mosquitos love me but ignore Mrs. H.

Unleash the spray trucks, I say.

This ARTICLE explains that of the two, only the latter causes extreme arthritis pain in joints.

While bemoaning the lack of municipal mosquito control, wouldn't it also be a good time to promote wider spread use of nets and repellants?

The mosquitoes that cause Dengue are daytime mosquitoes, so the use of nets is of no help. Because most homes are open to the air if there is not widespread fumigation one would need to be covered head to toe with poison 24/7.

"Dengue virus is primarily transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, particularly A. aegypti.[4] These mosquitoes usually live between the latitudes of 35° North and 35° South below an elevation of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft).[4] They typically bite during the day, particularly in the early morning and in the evening,[19][20] but they are able to bite and thus spread infection at any time of day all during the year.[21] Humans are the primary host of the virus,[4][14] but it also circulates in nonhuman primates.[22] An infection can be acquired via a single bite.[23] A female mosquito that takes a blood meal from a person infected with dengue fever, during the initial 2–10 day febrile period, becomes itself infected with the virus in the cells lining its gut.[24] About 8–10 days later, the virus spreads to other tissues including the mosquito's salivary glands and is subsequently released into its saliva. The virus seems to have no detrimental effect on the mosquito, which remains infected for life.[6] Aedes aegypti is particularly involved, as it prefers to lay its eggs in artificial water containers, to live in close proximity to humans, and to feed on people rather than other vertebrates.[6]"