Nicaragua, situated just west of the Caribbean Sea (the “social pub” for hurricanes like Mitch and Sandy), is highly vulnerable to weather-induced disasters. Each year, hundreds of tropical storms sweep across the face Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast. During particularly turbulent storms, heavy rainfall gouge out craters in loose soils, which fill up to form stagnant ponds. These oversized puddles are ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which soon arrive and begin to proliferate, unchecked.

Given Nicaragua’s geographical location, mosquito infestations are almost an inevitable occurrence. Females are capable of flying for miles in search of the optimal breeding ground, and can lay an upwards of 100 eggs at a time. Within 24 to 48 hours, the eggs hatch and out come little gross, writhing rice-like larvae. In another week, the larvae mature into pupae and emerge as adult mosquitos. The newly formed mosquito army enumerates in the millions and immediately set out with a ravenous hunger for fresh blood (or the females, at least). They hop from host to host, facilitating cross contamination and spread of diseases. They are the dreaded Aedes aegypti.

When we examine health in Nicaragua, a thorough discussion on mosquito-related illnesses is a must. Annually, dengue and malaria find their ways into the lives of thousands, even tens of thousands, and wreak havoc. Disease like these are not necessarily fatal, but they disrupt the daily routines that may be essential for survival. For many living in the countryside, life is often lived on a day-to-day basis. Their means of subsistence comprises almost exclusively of what they make for that day alone. When they become incapacitated by dengue, or even worse hemorrhagic dengue . . .  well the outcomes are just extremely unpleasant. As such, I believe that any attempt at helping Nicaragua develop MUST attack the issue of mosquito infestation and associated illnesses.

That being said, I’m also that the Nicaraguans generally don’t take precautions against mosquito bites, which enhances their susceptibility to dengue, malaria, and chikungunya. Despite this, it is still important to educate them on how their health is at risk.