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By Rommel C. Lontayao, Reporter
With public attention mostly centered on Influenza A(H1N1), or swine
flu, health officials on Tuesday underscored that with the start of
the rainy season, dengue has become an even bigger health threat.
The bite of a mosquito carrying the dengue virus
is more fatal than A(H1N1), the virus that causes swine flu, the
Department of Health (DOH) said.
“There is no drug or vaccine for dengue yet.
The disease is also more difficult to treat especially when there
are already complications,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd
said.
“Rainy-season diseases have been around longer
than A(H1N1) and affect young children particularly during this time
of year. Actually, proper handwashing and good respiratory manners
will protect our children not only from A(H1N1) but also from most
of these diseases,” he added.
For the first five months of 2009, the Health
department reported a total of 6,537 cases with 62 deaths. A(H1N1)
cases in the Philippines numbered 54 as of Tuesday, with no deaths
reported.
Though dengue figures in the latest DOH report
are comparatively lower compared to the same period of last year, a
sharp increase is expected when cases for the past month—when the
country experienced heavy rains—are included in the tally.
“We are heartened by the heroic efforts of all
those who worked hard so that there is a big 57.4-percent decrease
in the number of dengue cases compared to the same period last
year,” Duque said.
Still, the Health secretary added, even though
the first five months showed a steady decrease in the number of
cases, health authorities are not putting their guard down.
“Our success last year, however, should not
lull us into complacency this year,” he said.
Last week, the Health department launched its
nationwide anti-dengue campaign in Tondo, Manila, dubbed as, “Ako,
Ikaw, Tayong Lahat Laban sa Dengue.”
“The most important key to prevent and control
diseases is empowering our people with correct information so that
they can take steps to stop their transmission and limit the harm
that they bring through proper and timely health-seeking
behavior,” Duque said.
The Health department is stepping up its
anti-dengue campaign because dengue and so-called WILD diseases are
common during the rainy season.
The WILD diseases include waterborne infectious
diseases, influenza, leptospirosis and dengue.
“These WILD diseases are easily preventable if
only people will follow advisories issued by the Health department
on television, radio, newspapers, and even on the Internet via the
DOH website,” Duque said.
“With the 4S strategy that was widely
disseminated in communities and schools last year, people became
more aware how easy it was to prevent the spread of the
dengue-carrying mosquitoes,” he added.
The 4S strategy against dengue involves
“Search and destroy, Self-protection, Seek early treatment and Say
no to indiscriminate fogging.”
Duque cited the importance of hand-washing,
saying that it will only take about 30 seconds of hand-washing with
soap and water in order to remove most bacteria that cause different
infectious diseases.
He also advised the public to refrain from
wearing black or dark-blue clothes because black or dark-blue
objects attract the Aedes aegypti.
Aedes aegypti, the transmitter of dengue, is a
day-biting mosquito that lays eggs in clear and stagnant water found
in flower vases, cans, rain barrels or old rubber tires.
Health authorities advise the public to cover
water drums and water pails, replace water in flower vases and clean
all water containers once a week.
They also urge the public to monitor symptoms of
the disease, such as sudden onset of high fever that may last two to
seven days, joint and muscle pain and pain behind the eyes,
weakness, skin rashes, nosebleeding, abdominal pain, vomiting of
coffee-colored matter and dark-colored stools.
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