I used to be afraid of sharks. Now, I'm afraid of Mosquitoes instead. Dengue is spread by mosquito bites, and is a fever that affects nearly 50 million people worldwide every year. There is no vaccine, and there is no cure. There are 4 different types of Dengue fever that range from flu-like symptoms to the servere (4th version) Hemorrhagic tendency, where you essential bleed out of your skin and orfices. In the harsh Hemorrahagic Dengue version, although rare, shock may occur, and subsequently death.  If I were to place odds on this virus, I would say hands down Dengue would easily beat the Swine Flu in a wrestling match.
 
Now, having said that, the majority of people who contract Dengue Fever do not use any type of insect repellent at all, and are visting infested areas where the evil Aedes aegypti mosquitos are having a bloodsucking pow wow. There are four different species of mosquitos living on Rarotonga, but the Aedes mosquito is identified by it's black and white striped legs. Although peak mosquito feeding time is dawn and dusk, the Aedes mosquito actually bites during the day. It only takes one bite from a mosquito carrying the Dengue virus to cause an infection. And, if you do get a bite, you have about 7 days before the onset of symptoms. Talk about a window of time to either freak out, or party like it's your last?
 
The Aedes mosquitos will most likely be in the interior jungle areas of the Island of Rarotonga, so we've crossed mountain and waterfall trekking off our list. We'll simply stick to the beach perimenter. The good news is that mosquitos don't swim. Oh but wait, sharks do. I'll cover that fear in another blog, another day.
 
However, our little family is going prepared for battle against the little plague-spreading, stripey legged pest. We have stocked ourselves with about 24 gallons of various bug repellents ranging from all natural eucalpytus blends, pyrethrins formulas to treat our clothing with(made from crushed flowers), Avon's Skin So Soft, and even a DEET formula for our shoes and hats. We have also purchased electric plugins that will kill mosquitos in our bungalow.
Finally, in the spirit of total skeeter protection, we have also purchased a pop-up mosquito tent that will go over my daughter's sleeping area. The tent was really going overboard, but hey, the kid will like it. I've also just spotted 'insect resistant' socks and shirts on LL Bean.com, so I'm thinking about picking some of those up as well.
The Island locals will no doubt know our family well in no time - we'll be the smelly drippy people drenched in bug spray, with netting over our bodies, and riding our bikes like a bat out of hell.
So much for our plan to 'pack lightly'.