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.