Don’t let mosquito-borne illness ruin summer travel

HOUSTON (KIAH) – If you’re traveling this summer, you’ll want to read up on mosquito transmitted diseases in the areas you plan to visit.

According to Emily Speranza, PhD, researcher with Cleveland Clinic, diseases carried by mosquitoes can be dangerous.

“Mosquitoes completely outpace any other organism as far as causing deaths in the world,” said Dr. Speranza. “And that’s not just viruses transmitted by mosquitoes, but they also transmit things like malaria.”

Travel destinations near the equator are hot spots for mosquitoes that carry viruses like dengue, Zika and chikungunya. That includes the Caribbean and South America.

There are also northern mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus, the most common mosquito-borne disease in the United States.

Most people recover from West Nile, but about one in 150 cases are serious and sometimes fatal, according to the CDC.

Dr. Speranza studies mosquito transmitted diseases and the immune system. She said most people bitten by a disease-carrying mosquito won’t have major symptoms, but others become very ill.

Doctors still don’t know why that is, but the efficiency of your immune system likely plays a role.

“As you age, your immune system gets just a little bit slower and we have been able to show that the speed at which your immune system can respond might play a big role in its ability to disseminate,” she said.

If you’re outdoors this summer and mosquitoes are biting, Dr. Speranza recommends using bug spray and other deterrents to avoid bites and potential illness.