The Economic Costs of Mosquito Borne Diseases

Mosquitoes might be tiny insects but their economic bite has become deadly over the years. It is a known fact that mosquitoes are carriers of several diseases that cause thousands of death worldwide. According to WHO (World Health Organization) mosquitoes is listed as top threats to public health across the world. The economic cost of dengue illness for Singapore government has been in the range of $0.85 billion to $1.15 billion from the year 2000 to 2009. There is no doubt Dengue has been a serious economic and disease burden for Singapore.

The Price Tag Of Mosquito Bites For Individuals

While a mosquito bite may not cause more than an itch, it is not always that simple. Mosquitoes are known to be a carrier of diseases like yellow fever, malaria, dengue, chikungunya, and many dreadful diseases which are life-threatening. If an individual is bitten by a mosquito carrying disease, the cost of mosquito-borne diseases may include

• Missed time from work
• Cost of over the counter medications or funds to cover medical expenses
• Hospitalization bills or medical treatment costs
• Transportation costs to travel to hospital and back or doctor visit bills
• Time spent to visit doctor
• Cost of securing mosquito repellents as tool of protection from mosquitoes

While these are only costs related to the individual, the economic cost of mosquito-borne diseases for countries is even higher. Countries need to divert funds for activities like

• Education program to inform public about disease outbreak
• Public disease prevention programs which include distribution of mosquito nets
• Mosquito control programs such as use of insecticides
• Vaccination programs for public
• Loss of productivity due to massive outbreak of mosquito-borne diseases
• Compensation for communities and businesses affected by disease outbreak
• Research to avoid disease outbreak in future

All these activities need a large number of funds that heavily affects the government spending towards other development work. According to Singapore health reports, the vaccination programs are quite expensive which cost $100 to $500 per dose respectively. People need to take preventive measures to protect themselves from mosquitoes and the diseases they carry.

Apply Mosquito Repellents To Protect Yourself From Mosquitoes

Mosquito repellents are effective in protecting you against mosquitoes. According to research, mosquito repellents are safe to use even for children and pregnant women. Mosquito repellents works by interfering with working of chemical receptor cells in mosquito’s antennas. With mosquito’s chemical receptor cells affected, it cannot detect traces of carbon dioxide and lactic acid in the air and hence cannot detect the presence of humans nearby. They just fly past humans looking for prey elsewhere.