Dengue cases here in the
Philippines is very rampant. The Department of Health (DOH) reported a 16.43% increase in dengue cases in
the country this year 2012.
There were already 51,597 cases recorded from Jan. 1 to July 14, according
to the DOH National Epidemiology Center’s (NEC) dengue surveillance report
compared to last year which was 44,315 cases on the same period.
The other name of dengue fever is “ breakbone fever”. It is a contagious tropical
disease caused by the dengue virus.
The dengue is transmitted by some
mosquito species within genus Aedes and mainly A. Aegypti
that bites during day time. But
there is a new mosquito species, Aedes albopictus that bites day to night. This
means that people must not lower their guards against dengue courier every time.
Dengue symptoms consist of fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, abdominal pain, ongoing vomiting, low platelets count and a skin rash.
Mostly children and elderly are the victims of this disease because their
immune system are weaker compared to the rest of population. Until
now, there is no commercially available vaccine,
prevention is sought by reducing the habitat and the number of mosquitoes and
limiting exposure to bites.
I also
listed some tips here to avoid catching the dengue fever. I hope this could
help.
- Clean your surroundings everyday
- Cover properly the containers in your premises
- Dispose properly used automobile tires or plastic cans
- Use mosquito nets or electric mosquito repellers when sleeping
- Apply some mosquito repellants lotion
- Practice proper solid waste disposal
- Improve your canal system, make sure not to keep the water stagnant
If you
have something to add on, feel free to comment.
