Dengue Alert
Written by Jelyn B. Tabilla
Rainy season is dengue season.
Fast facts first
As of August 2011, there are 301 dengue cases with three deaths in the province of Iloilo. There are 16 new cases from July 30 – August 6, 2011. DOH reported that there were 63,741 dengue cases from January to September this year with 373 deaths in the whole Philippines. A 27.08 percent drop from 87,409 cases and 586 deaths in the same period last year. (Iloilo Provincial Health Office)
What is dengue?
Dengue is a viral disease maintained in nature cycles that involved preferred blood-sucking vectors and vertebrate hosts. It is an acute illness that usually strikes people with low immunity, thus, it is more common in infants and young children. Women are more at risk than men and a life threatening to those with chronic diseases such as diabetes and asthma. Dengue carrying mosquitoes also known as Aedes Aegypti prefer to lay its eggs in artificial water containers and to live near humans.
The virus is not contagious and only spread in person-to-mosquito-to-another-person process. When a mosquito carrying dengue virus bites a person, the virus enters the skin together with mosquito’s saliva. It binds and enters white blood cells and reproduces while they move throughout the body. The white blood cells respond by producing a number of signaling proteins which are responsible for the flu-like symptoms and severe pain. When the virus infection inside the body increases many more organs such as liver and bone marrow can be affected that leads to reduced number of platelets and increases the risk of blood clotting or bleeding.
Symptoms and simple solutions
The common symptoms of dengue include sudden fever, headache (behind the eyes), muscle and joint pains and a bright red rash. This disease can be fatal if unrecognized and not properly treated immediately that may cause death of the affected person. But with proper knowledge about this disease we can prevent it from spreading. Cleaning our surroundings is one of the simplest ways. Another way is by using insect repellant lotion and mosquito nets when at rest.
Too many lives have already been lost. Let’s not wait for a fatality due to dengue within our family before we start cleaning our own backyard.//
References:
Wikipedia The Daily Guardian Department of Health
