Prevention
How can people reduce the chance of getting infected with LACV? Prevent mosquito bites. There is no vaccine or preventive drug.
Use insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535 or oil of lemon eucalyptus on exposed skin and/or clothing. The repellent/insecticide permethrin can be used on clothing to protect through several washes. Always follow the directions on the package.
Wear long sleeves and pants when weather permits. Have secure, intact screens on windows and doors to keep mosquitoes out.
Eliminate mosquito breeding sites by emptying standing water from flower pots, buckets, barrels, and other containers. Drill holes in tire swings so water drains out. Empty children’s wading pools and store on their side after use.
LACV can survive the winter in the mosquito eggs that will hatch into infected mosquitoes in the spring. Cleaning potential breeding sites such as old tires or tin cans can reduce the number of infected eggs developing into infected mosquitoes. As the Aedes triseriatus mosquito prefers treeholes for breeding sites, you can reduce mosquitoes by filling treeholes in/around your yard with soil.
Read more about this topic: La Crosse Encephalitis
Famous quotes containing the word prevention:
“... if this world were anything near what it should be there would be no more need of a Book Week than there would be a of a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.”
—Dorothy Parker (1893–1967)