On Saturday last they fumigated the seminary. Apparently, this is the third time since Christmas that it has been done. Normally, it would be done once per year but there has been a persistent problem with mosquitos here which, apart from being bothersome, presents a real health hazard.
As you probably know, mosquitos are the bearers and spreaders of some very serious illnesses. Two of the worst that are not uncommon here in Panama are Nile Fever and Dengue Fever. I have never had Nile Fever so I can't speak about it in any kind of informed way but I know, from what I have read, that it can be very unpleasant and, in at least one of its strains, can be fatal.
Dengue Fever, however, is all too familiar to any one who worked in Ecuador. I got it once and would describe it as totally debilitating, causing a weakness that invades the whole body; it causes a very intense fever, accompanied by hallucinations, sweats, and very severe chills; it affects the memory (which eventually recovers); and leaves the patient listless for a long time afterwards. I was lucky - I got common or garden Dengue: there is another kind, known as Haemorraghic Dengue, which is fatal for those unlucky enough to contract it.
They say that each dose of the normal Dengue is progressively worse than the previous one so I'm very hopeful that I can avoid it. I am doing all I can: I spray my room regularly with a strong insecticide (it says that it doesn't affect humans but it certainly has a short-term effect on the breathing and also burns the eyes quite a bit), I have a plug-in liquid insecticide (guaranteed to kill all mosquitos for at least a month), and I also use one of the old fashioned machines which uses an insecticide tablet - none of this appears to work. This week, as well as all of the above, I am also using the even older fashioned coil that is burned in the room: I still have mosquitos.
It seems that mosquitos can adapt quickly to become immune to insecticides: all I can say is, that with all of these precautions, I probably have fewer than I would have had otherwise.
The fumigation was very effective - for about five hours nobody saw a mosquito. But they are back, and appear to be hungrier than ever.
Panamanians find them bothersome and, apart from the illnesses already mentioned that affect everybody equally, don't seem to suffer too badly from them. The Korean students, on the other hand, have badly marked arms and hands from the constant bites that they receive. I am somewhere in the middle - helped by all my precautions and also by using insect repellent, I am bitten most days, but only a few times, which is quite bearable. I really feel sorry for the Koreans - not only do they suffer so much because of the language, they also get a very rough deal from the insect population.
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