Having to learn to deal with mosquitoes is just something that grey nomads – who inevitably spend much of their time outdoors – simply have to do.
However, it is important that the potential health threat they pose is never underestimated or downplayed … and it’s not just in the tropical north, either.
In New South Wales, there were almost 2,000 cases of Ross River virus last year … a record for notifications.
Grey nomad, Graeme Stuart, was one of them. The ABC reports that, three months ago, the 68-year-old was loving life travelling, playing golf, and getting out in a boat when he could.
Now, he sometimes finds even simple tasks extremely hard.
“Right now I’d struggle to get in or out of a boat, let alone hold a paddle,” he said. “It troubles me if I have to open a door that’s got a circular doorknob because I can’t get a grip on the thing.”
The former radio announcer from Ocean Shores on the New South Wales far north coast told the ABC he was diagnosed with Ross River virus on Christmas Eve.
“The really debilitating part is swelling and aching in joints, specifically wrists and hands, ankles and feet,” Mr Stuart said. “At its worst, it stops me from turning the pages of a book.”
NSW Health says symptoms of Ross River infection include fever, rash and joint pains, and that prevention relies on avoiding mosquito bites. It says the majority of people recover completely in a few weeks, while others may experience symptoms such as joint pain and tiredness for many months.
Cameron Webb, a researcher for NSW Health Pathology, said mosquito numbers exploded after heavy rain in February 2020, but high mozzie numbers were only part of the issue.
“Mosquitoes don’t hatch out of the wetland already infected with the virus, they have to bite native animals and those animals are typically kangaroos and wallabies,” Dr Webb told the ABC. “You will be at greater risk when you are outside some of the main urban areas, particularly when you are in that interface between the wetlands and areas where there is a lot of wildlife.”
Dr Webb said there were several precautions people should take.
“We’d always recommend if it’s possible to wear light, loose-fitting clothing and use a topical insect repellent,” he said. “Don’t follow a recipe to make up your own insect repellent that you’ve seen on the internet, because the commercial products are far less likely to cause skin reactions and can prevent mosquito bites.”
And he warned that even the most effective mosquito coils only reduce your chances of getting bitten, rather than providing complete protection.
Got it 10 years ago and yup it slowed me down for a while. The interesting thing is that you can catch it anywhere in Australia … including Tassy.
How do you avoid being infected? Wear a condom … it provides protection!
Fightin fires back in ’94 we were based at Yerranderie NSW for a couple of weeks. The mozzies down there were the same one’s that Boeing used as a design for the 747’s. Got diagnosed when we got back to civilisation with Ross River Fever – not nice it took over a year to get back to feeling human again.