Dengue: An Outbreak that must be Break Infectious. Severe. Dangerous.

Dengue, a severe, potentially fatal, hemorrhagic febrile disease caused by dengue viruses, which are carried and transmitted by the female, day-biting, Aedes aegytpti mosquito, the same mosquito responsible for Yellow Fever. It continues to spread, hospitals are still filled to the brims by dengue patients. Today, about 2.5 billion are at risk from dengue, and 50 million are infected worldwide annually, with a mortality rate ranging from 1 percent to 2.5 percent, for those who receive treatment, according to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics. In the Philippines, not all patients can receive free diagnosis and treatment in government hospitals. Blood tests alone to detect the dengue virus, and hospital confinement while awaiting the test results, can be beyond the reach of the underprivileged. The continued spread of the disease makes it clear that the Department of Health (DOH) needs to reverend up its awareness campaign, especially in communities with potentially greater risk of infection. While it is now common knowledge that breeding grounds of mosquitoes are the damp places and stagnant water, what is not known to all but is a fact to those working with tropical diseases is that aegypti eggs can remain in serenity for even two years if it is not in contact with water. The eggs are laid on the walls of the breeding devices used instead of on the water as we assumed. Although, dengue is a year-round disease, it is observed to be more rampant during rainy seasons. Discarded solid waste items, such as plastics, glass containers and used automobile tires collect rain water and moisture. To prevent the spread of dengue, you must first prevent the breeding of its vector, the Aedes mosquito. The Aedes mosquito is easily identifiable by its distinctive black and white stripes on their body. It prefers to breed in clean, stagnant water easily found in our homes. You can get rid of the Aedes mosquito by frequently checking and removing stagnant water in your premises. Even better than early detection is prevention, through the eradication of breeding grounds for the principal carriers of the virus: mosquitoes. It is not enough to come around with fogging machines and insecticides. Though they have their place, some of these chemicals do as much harm to us as they do to mosquitoes. We have to take a holistic approach to the problem, and at all levels make it difficult for the Aedes to coexist with us. It starts with education, giving people the knowledge they need to protect themselves, their families and communities. However, the education cannot just be in the form of public service messages on television, radio, flyers, advertisement, news websites and in newspapers. It has to

be taken to the level of the community where public health officials have to interact and work directly with people in places such as their homes, schools, churches and shops. If detected early, the disease can be easy to cure. But if you are not aware of this kind of disease, this will kill you softly. Slowly but surely. Thats why we should apply the saying prevention is better than cure. The elimination of dengue is the responsibility of each and every citizen in every sitio, barangay and town in the country. The Department of Health, its regional centers and allied agencies are impotent without the peoples help. To rely on these agencies alone, without doing our share, will be a costly mistake. The only hope we have to stamp out Dengue is to eliminate the mosquitoes ourselves. Each community must wage an all-out war against the harbinger of this deadly disease. This can be accomplished only by an aggressive community action, led by barangay leaders and with the help of each and every member of the community, to eliminate all the breeding sites of mosquitoes in their midst. This is the only effective strategy. Lets get organized, bite back, and wipe out this potentially fatal infection, to which no one is immune, and for which there is no cure. Lets save our children and ourselves. Too many lives have already been lost. Lets not wait for a fatality within our own family before we start cleaning our own backyard. Dengue needs to pay attention to the no less dangerous threat brought about by the Aedes aegypti mosquito on the lives and health of ordinary Filipinos. It has to bang the drum more loudly and urgently. No bungling here, please? Because, quite simply, this is a matter of life and death.