THE declaration of national dengue epidemic recently by the Department of Health (DOH) leads all local government units (LGUs) scampering to act together to prevent or stop dengue cases from further increasing in each LGUs.
In the press release by the DOH dated August 6, 2019, there are a total of 622 deaths in the total 146,062 dengue cases in the Philippines “recorded since January up to July 20 this year, 98 percent higher than the same period in 2018.” It also added “The total number of cases nationwide for the 29th Morbidity Week alone (July 14-20) is 10,502. This is 71 percent higher compared to the same period in 2018 (6,128 cases).”
The DOH said Davao region “is among the regions being monitored after it exceeded the alert threshold or the number of dengue cases with a potential outbreak.”
The Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos) government already declared a state of calamity due to dengue fever outbreak due to exponentially increasing number of dengue cases in the area.
According to the report from the Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of the Igacos Health Office, a total of 249 dengue cases were recorded, up by 730 percent from the number in the same period last year.
Amid the dengue hullabaloo that the whole Philippines is facing right now, there is one word that connects dengue to all of us that would ironically also disconnect us from the harms the dengue could bring: Cleanliness.
In a World Health Organization report on Dengue Control, it states that environmental management is the preventive measure to minimize vector propagation and human contact with the vector-pathogen, in dengue’s case the Aedes mosquitoes especially Aedes aegypti. Among the environmental management it stated is the solid waste management, especially that “large Ae. aegypti populations are often associated with poor water supply and inadequate sanitation and waste disposal services”.
“Applying many of the basic principles of solid waste management can contribute substantially to reducing Ae. aegypti larval habitats,” the report adds.
It added that reducing solid waste efforts should be “directed against discarded or non-essential containers” and that the frequency of the collection of solid waste is important as well, suggesting that “twice per week is recommended for housefly and rodent control in warm climates.”
It also included street cleansing as preventive control against dengue.
“A reliable and regular street cleansing system that removes discarded water-bearing containers and cleans drains” will significantly help to reduce larval habitats of Ae. aegypti, it stated.
The urgent call now is for us to observe proper waste disposal as part of our cleaning efforts. After all, we will not only be protecting the lives of our neighbors against dengue, but ours and our loved ones as well.