Tropical diseases are a group of diseases that thrive in tropical or subtropical areas due to hot weather and humid conditions. The weather helps spread those diseases, making them harder to control; global warming, thus, intensifies the danger of those diseases as more and more regions are becoming warmer every day. Insects are responsible for spreading tropical diseases through their bites; anyone traveling to a tropical area can, thus, easily be infected.
Malaria is one of the most known tropical diseases. It is a life-threatening condition. People get infected when they travel to an infected area. The disease is caused by an infected mosquito bite. People can avoid malaria by taking medications that can help prevent infection before traveling to an infested area. Moreover, some measures can be taken, such as sleeping under a mosquito net or using bug spray containing Deet—a common active ingredient in most insect repellants. In short, one must try to avoid mosquito bites as much as possible. Malaria is not a disease that can be taken lightly; if it is not treated early, it can have some serious complications like swelling of the blood vessels of the brain, organ failure, or pulmonary edema.
Another tropical disease is Human African trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness. It is a disease carried by the Tse Tse flies, and if left untreated, leads to death. Symptoms include uncontrolled sleepiness during the day and swollen lymph nodes. Tse Tse flies bite animals, as well animals are infected by a disease known as Nagana, which affects animal production, also causing high death rates among cattle.
Mosquito bites also cause Dengue Fever. Mosquitos get infected when they bite someone with Dengue Fever, which is a serious condition that leads to death. Symptoms include sudden high fever, pain of muscles and joints, pain behind the eyes, vomiting and skin rash. There are no vaccines to protect from Dengue Fever; most measures of prevention in affected areas include avoiding mosquito bites by using mosquito nets, wearing clothes with long sleeves, and using bug sprays.
References
who.int
webmd.com
healthline.com
nlm.nih.gov