Quezon City, Caloocan use nails, brooms to combat dengue

MANILA, Philippines - The local governments of Quezon City and Caloocan City are using nails and brooms to deprive dengue-carrying mosquitos, which breed in stagnant water, of places where they can multiply.

Since old tires are known to be breeding places for these mosquitoes, authorities are now going as far as distributing nails so impoverished households would no longer use the wheels to hold down the roofs of their shanties.

“If you go around depressed areas, that’s very rampant,” Dr. Annie Inumerable, health officer of Quezon City, said in an interview.

Inumerable said since these wheels go untouched for long periods, water gets stuck inside them and becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes that spread the dengue disease.

“In some barangays, the village officials are now giving away nails for the roofs just so the residents would no longer use wheels as weight for their (makeshift) ceilings,” she said.

According to Inumerable, authorities are focusing on the environmental aspect of the problem, noting that sanitation is the most common cause for the spread of the disease.

Inumerable said the city has recorded 10 cases of deaths attributable to dengue from January to August this year.

The health official said this is still lower than the 39 deaths recorded last year. She said the cases this year are still 17 percent lower than the number of dengue cases last year.

The city government is currently monitoring 10 barangays, including Gulod, San Bartolome, Batasan, Tandang Sora, and Bagong Silangan, among others.

Actions being taken by the city government include chemical spraying of stagnant water and even cutting of trees that accumulate water.

The Caloocan City government, meanwhile, yesterday reminded its residents to sweep up their homes to prevent the spread of dengue.

Mayor Enrico Echiverri directed the city’s Environment Sanitation Services to sustain the cleanup of canals, particularly those with stagnant water where dengue-carrying mosquitoes could breed.

“Everyone must do their part to help check the proliferation of the dreaded disease, and the most effective way is to have clean surroundings,” Echiverri said.

The mayor also directed the city health department to distribute reading materials to the city’s 188 barangays to teach residents the signs and symptoms of the illness with suggested precautionary measures.

The barangay leaders were also ordered to take part in the campaign by inspecting their respective areas.