Bad new for St Barts Island: The local authorities are about to declare a dengue fever alert for both St Barts and St Marteen (St Martin). Tourists should not worry, though: Dengue fever is prevalent in places such as Singapore and Rio and nobody panics!
Dengue fever is rare on St Barts, as our small island is much cleaner than most surrounding islands. Yet, this season has been very rainy and hot, helping mosquitoes mutliply.
What to do if you are a tourist: just use mosquito repellents containing DEET. They can be bought everywhere on the island, in supermarkets and pharmacies. Good ol’ OFF contains DEET, so nothing spectacular needs to be used here.
I do not think that this wil have a big impact on St Barts. Sanitary conditions are among the best in the Caribbean, there are lots of qualified doctors on the island, and the local authorities will probably soon enforce a new mosquito eradication campaign. Been there, done that, don’ t worry.
More about Dengue Fever on Wikipedia.
