Knowing Dengue

CEBU, Philippines - Did you know that June is Dengue Awareness Month?

June signals the start of the rainy season, which means more breeding grounds for potential dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

It is for this reason that the Department of Health has declared June as the month intended to raise awareness on the disease. The Department, however, admits that these days dengue has become a year-round problem, the more reason why government is also intensifying its efforts on getting rid of the disease.

In fact, moves have been made to not just treat the disease but also ensure that the population of mosquitoes carrying the disease would also be minimized. For this reason, a partnership between the DOH and the Department of Science and Technology was forged with the aim of coming up with a solution in decreasing the population of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the culprit that carries the dengue virus around.

In the meantime, the DOH is asking the public to do the following in order to prevent catching the disease:

1. Search and destroy. Look for possible breeding sites of the Aedes aegypti mosquito and then remove them. Any container or vessel can be suspect, whether useful ones like pots and basins, or useless ones like tin cans and styro cups. Useless containers can be disposed of properly while those that are hard to dispose like large drums and plant axils of bananas and fortune plants can be treated with larvicides. Today, there are larvicides that are safe and organic. Check with your nearest health center for recommendations on larvicides to use and how to use them.

2. Self protection measures. This includes using mosquito repellant products like lotions and pads, and the use of mosquito nets, long sleeved clothing and long trousers especially in the early morning or late afternoon hours when the dengue-carrying mosquitoes are known to be abundant. You may not like wearing long clothes or using mosquito nets, but in the long run, it’s your health that matters, so bear with the inconvenience.

3. Seek early treatment. Once signs and symptoms of the disease are observed on someone, he/she must be brought immediately to a doctor who could recommend for a laboratory exam. Otherwise, parents and caregivers can practice the D.E.N.G.U.E. strategy: Daily monitoring of patient’s status; Encourage intake of fluids like fruit juices and oresol; Note any dengue warning signs like persistent vomiting and bleeding; Give paracetamol for fever and not aspirin, which induces bleeding; Use mosquito nets; and Early consultation in the presence of any warning sign.

4. Say NO to indiscriminate fogging. Fogging is only recommended in outbreak areas, since it does not really eliminate the mosquitoes. Fogging only kills adult mosquitoes, sparing the larvae (kiti-kiti) which matures only after 7-8 days. For this reason, fogging is not an effective preventive measure.

Although dengue has become more of a common and treatable illness these days, this doesn’t mean that we have to be lax in our crusade against the disease, because after all it is a preventable illness that only requires us to take a few cautious steps.