HEALTHLINE
Dengue Victory Over The Vectors
FLYING low together, the husband sent distress call to other squadron members: “Mayday! Mayday! My wife is pregnant. We need blood!” Sounds like a baby delivery on an airplane?
Not so. Listen some more: “Ma’am, we’ve spotted a six-year old donor. She’s all yours,” said another flyer. In a split second, the female Dengue mosquito struck the unsuspecting girl from down and behind.
Aedes Is Getting Smart
They ‘hum’ their wings more silently, and they rarely attack us face-to-face but from below and behind (usually the back leg areas). They lay eggs individually unlike most mosquitoes, which do it in ‘rafts’ (like bullet magazines) for easy ingestion by larva-eating fish. Being picky, they prefer ‘clean’ water to lay eggs. Oh! How they love us humans — they seldom dwell nine meters farther from us. They are tough: eggs can stay ‘alive’ for more than six months in “dried” habitat— waiting for another rainy season to be hatched.
Have Blood, Will Lay Egg
Though sugar from plant juice is staple for both male and female mosquitoes, females need animal blood for egg development. As blood was sucked, instead of thanking the child “donor”, the ungrateful ‘mother mosquito’ injected the dengue virus into the ill-fated victim. Poor lad! She’s only a few days away from high fever with possible hemorrhagic complications that might cause her life.
Dengue Virus Is The Killer
The Dengue virus is the real culprit. The mosquito is just the “helicopter” (vector) used by that lethal bomb (the virus) for transport from person to person. The virus knows that the human victim who survives its disease develops some immunity to that form. Hence, they come out with four forms (serotypes), with three more strains left to strike us. Thus, vaccines are hard to develop.
Why Children?
Most victims are children, the ‘first timers’ to the four strains. Since not all dengue patients die, adults could have contacted dengue viruses in younger years. In effect, they have acquired immunity through previous infections (literally, mosquito “injected” “vaccination”). Protect our children, they are the most vulnerable. Some adults, however, are not spared. Lately, I got adult Dengue patients aged: 18, 25, 43, and 32 (I’m a Dengue survivor too, at 29). All were discharged (Thank God) after about a week of hospital stay.
Fighting Mechanically
We can fight these vectors by putting up barriers like screening of doors and windows or using mosquito nets. Wearing long-sleeved shirts with shoes on also helps. Schoolgirls in our Chinese school are allowed to wear long pants during Dengue season. So nice to know that the DepED is now implementing such scheme.
Socially
By community efforts in cleaning and eliminating favorite mosquito breeding areas where water stays: open cans, coconut shells, bamboo gates, unused aquariums, tires, roof gutters, drums, vases, tree holes, and even wide leaves. Please stop reading for a while and look down below your refs and be surprised to see lots of Dengue “kiti-kiti” there (personal experience with our old ref). You could be breeding killers in you own home.
Chemically
By insect repellants. Most contain DEET, an effective ingredient applied on skin. Protection lasts about eight hours. Do not be duped by “fogging” that gives false security. It kills only adult (only if exposed) Dengue mosquitoes. Still, plenty of eggs and ‘kitikiti’s” abound, waiting to wreck disaster. Fogging, at most, reminds us that Dengue season is here again and we have to clean our surroundings.
4’S Of Dengue Survival
The Department of Health came out with the four anamnestics for survival:
- * Search and destroy mosquito breeding grounds
- * Self protective wears
- * Seek early consult
- * Stop inappropriate fogging
Batman, The Hero
Together with frogs, lizards, and spiders, bats are useful in crashing the mosquitoes. Gone are those trees where bats abound. Gone, too, are the frogs and spiders before the plants were cut and the replaced by ‘clean’ soil for subdivision purposes. Putting ‘tilapias’ and other “kitikiti-philes” in stagnant water can also be effective.
We Are The Champions
In war against Dengue mosquitoes, we should be the champions, being humans. Now equipped with ‘combat’ knowledge, we shall emerge as the victors. And the mosquitoes? Of course, they’ll naturally remain, as they are the vectors.
Stop the virus. Kill the mosquitoes. Be our children’s heroes!
Another Disaster?
Lord forbid! I have one patient now confined at ICU who was admitted last month whose initial test (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine) is confirmed positive for swine flu but negative for Novel H1N1. DOH requested for another swab for confirmation. Help me pray it is negative. Otherwise, the alarming “2nd Wave” might come from Capiz. I had already informed the Provincial Chair on Committee on Health for possible plans (Tamiflu availability, vaccination drive, etc). Pardon my being paranoid. The new strain might come out “weak” like its H1N1 predecessor, but it is better to be alive than sorry. Details about the patient and the case will be presented on next issue.
(Our writer is a member of The Kapisanan ng Mga Brodkasters sa Pilipinas. You can catch Dr. Yap every Sunday morning at Bombo Good Morning Philippines 900 MHz, and Fridays at “Health Line” Wesfardell Budyong Kapihan TV Show with Rexam Laguda. Saturdays at Pulso sang Banwa with Glenn Beup channel 5 Alto Cable 8 am. Comments are welcome at dryapjr@yahoo.com. Dr. Yap’s book “Joyful Life…& Sex? GO TO HEALTH!” is now available at all National Book Stores outlets nationwide).
