ILOILO City – During El Niño season characterized by lower volume of rainfall, people store water.
However, stored clean water, when not properly covered, could serve as breeding sites for dengue-causing mosquitoes, said Dr. Bernard Caspe, City Health Office (CHO) chief.
Dengue mosquitoes live and breed in clear, stagnant water.
Caspe warned of a possible surge in dengue cases this dry season due to poorly stored water.
Dengue hemorrhagic fever is an acute mosquito-borne viral infection that affects infants, young children and adults.
The symptoms, which usually begin four to six days after infection, include sudden, high fever, severe headaches, pain behind the eyes, severe joint and muscle pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, skin rash which appears two to five days after the onset of fever, and even mild bleeding (such a nose bleed, bleeding gums, or easy bruising).
Caspe cited studies that while the lifespan of mosquitoes is getting shorter, they mature faster and become virulent during the hot season.
According to the CHO chief, even without a request from the Department of Education (DepEd), the CHO already took the initiative and wrote letters to public schools for the conduct of misting.
Private schools, too, have requested for the misting.
The CHO also requested the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) here to require all barangays in the city to acquire misting machines and larvicide to prevent dengue.
The larvicide is placed in stagnant water where mosquitoes lay their eggs. The misting machine, on the other hand, is filled with insecticide that kills adult mosquitoes.
Barangay watchmen are also being trained on how to properly mix chemicals used during the misting.
Depending on the weather condition, the effect of the misting could last from two weeks to a month.
In response, DILG Iloilo City director Atty. Ferdinand Panes ordered barangay chairpersons to include in their Local Disaster Risk Reduction Plan, activities and projects to help address the rising cases of dengue.
Caspe added they have already communicated with the Liga ng mga Barangay for the regular cleanup every Saturday and for their community to observe the 4S strategy: search and destroy mosquito breeding places, secure self-protection, seek early consultation and support fogging/spraying only in hotspot areas.
“The simple solution for dengue is to clean your surroundings,” he said. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
