dengue

June 26, 2009

On the onset of rainy season in our province Cebu, Philippines, the Department of Health is reminding once again the danger of dengue to the community because this is more lethal than the popular H1N1 flu virus.   Base on experience our  Village has experience victims of dengue fever. Dengue is transmitted by the bite of an Aedes mosquito infected with any one of the four dengue viruses. It occurs in tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world.

DENGUE HEMORRHAGIC FEVER is an acute infectious disease manifested initially with fever. Aedes aegypti, the transmitter of the disease, is a day-biting mosquito which lays eggs in clear and stagnant water found in flower vases, cans, rain barrels, old rubber tires, etc. The adult mosquitoes rest in dark places of the house.

The signs and symptoms of the patient are the sudden onset of high fever which may last 2 to 7 days.
Joint & muscle pain and pain behind the eyes. Weakness and Skin rashes - maculopapular rash or red tiny spots on the skin called petechiae, nose bleeding when fever starts to subside, abdominal pain, vomiting of coffee-colored matter, dark-colored stools.

The Department of Health have coordinated the barangays of the cities and towns for the preventions and control of dengue, like cover water drums and water pails at all times to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.
Replace water in flower vases once a week. Clean all water containers once a week. Scrub the sides well to remove eggs of mosquitoes sticking to the sides. Clean gutters of leaves and debris so that rain water will not collect as breeding places of mosquitoes. Old tires used as roof support should be punctured or cut to avoid accumulation of water. Collect and dispose all unusable tin cans, jars, bottles and other items that can collect and hold water. Screened you house if possible.

 Every household can undertake simple measures to prevent existing water collections from becoming breeding places of Aedes aegypti. House cleaning by all members of the community will ensure that no breeding places exist, preventing dengue form occurring.

And finally discourage the children on playing on this time; the highest biting intensity is about 2 hours after sunrise and before sunset.

The 2009 flu pandemic

June 17, 2009

Honestly, I’m a little bit scared about this swine flu, not just for my family but the whole populace. The dangerous part, it is very communicable because it is airborne. We can’t avoid mingling with people for our daily routine, schools, malls, bus, gatherings…

And now it is a global outbreak of a strain of influenza A virus subtype H1N1, identified in April 2009 in Mexico and commonly referred to as swine flu, which infects and is transmitted between humans. WHO officially declared the outbreak to be a “pandemic” on June 11, 2009.  But stressed that the new designation was a result of the global “spread of the virus,” not its severity. The WHO stated the pandemic appears to have moderate severity in comparatively well-off countries.
This virus has infected currently 36,000 with 76 countries and its growing every day.

The symptoms of this flu are  fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A significant number of people who have been infected with this virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting.  Also, like seasonal flu, severe illnesses and death has occurred as a result of illness associated with this virus.

How to avoid H1N1 swine flu

Just as with regular flu, there are some things you can do to avoid infection and minimize the spread of the disease:

• Cover your nose and mouth with a disposable tissue when you cough and sneeze and throw it away after using it.
• If you don’t have a tissue to hand, cover your mouth with the inner part of your elbow when you cough or sneeze. This will avoid spreading the infection to your hand and will minimize spreading the disease.
• After coughing and sneezing, wash your hands with warm water and soap. Rub both sides of your soapy hands for at least for 15 seconds and rinse with lots of water. If soap and water are not available, use alcohol-based disposable hand wipes or gel sanitizers.
• Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth because the germs spread very quickly.
• Wash your hands frequently –- the virus can live for up to two hours on surfaces like doorknobs and telephones.
• Eat a healthy diet including plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and wholegrain foods –- a balance of these will give you minerals and antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamin C, which help to fight infections.
• Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds, and other social distancing measures.

manila

June 9, 2009

One early  Saturday morning while I was in Manila, I was able to explore the metropolis, all I wanted was to compare the City that I used to know many years ago, while I was  still a student in Far Eastern University.  My first destination was going to the Cultural Complex of the Philippines, as usual there were a lot of joggers from the different walks of life, basically the infrastructure are almost the same, Cultural Center, Philippine Convention Center, Folk Arts Theater now Tanghalang  Balagtas, Philippine Plaza is now (Sofitel Philippine Plaza), and at the back  was the neglected, Manila Film Center. I only noticed the addition of the Star City Complex; a theme rides on the left side of the Cultural Center.

Going to Luneta by foot was a memory of the good ole days; the sea side was almost the same except the different shape of light post. But what was amazing is the beautiful high rise office and condominiums Buildings facing the Manila Bay, it’s like in Makati City or in Hong Kong.

The very popular Luneta, where we used to treat our new arrival relatives, was almost the same, the Chinese Garden, but the open theater was already covered, the Agrippina Circle has a  big statue of Lapu lapu.

Plaza Lawton had some changes, the center of all rallies and campaigns, a big fountain on the center in front of the big classical Central Post Office Building.  It makes the place more interesting and beautiful. The historical Plaza Miranda in Quiapo. The black Nazarene of Quiapo Church,  is now wider and the plaza is more spacious and with some concrete beautiful arch. The popular movie houses are gone, like Galaxy, Roxan, Avenue, State, Idial, Recto and others people now are going to the malls for movies.

The Light Railway Transit is still fine with new couches and now has a connection from Recto to Cubao it is really a big help to ease the traffic somehow. The jeepneys has still the same route with so many in number. And a new beautiful hotel along Avenida , Opera Hotel

Manila will always be like a palm in my hand after schooling and working for quite some time, you tend to learn to love the place in spite of all the odds like horrible traffics, so crowded, flooded when it rains, the old and dilapidated buildings however deep inside i’ll always miss Manila for it has been a part of my wonderful life.