Black Leggings

14. Aug 2010 - Health authorities in Thailand are urging young women not to wear fashionable black leggings to avoid attracting unwanted attention from mosquitoes carrying dengue fever. Dengue fever is endemic in Southeast Asia and a chronic problem during the rainy season, when stagnant water and unsanitary urban environment s provide breeding grounds for carrier mosquitoes. Thailand has recorded 43 deaths and more than 45,000 cases of dengue in the first seven months of the year, an increase of about 40% compared with last year. Twenty-six people killed by dengue this year were between the age of 10 and 24 years, prompting the warning about the hazards of dark leggings. A Health Ministry spokesperson advised to wear thick clothes likes jeans during this period, noting that mosquitoes can only bite through thin clothing. However, it is not sure if this fashion advice will be followed up in tropical Thailand.