FIGHT DENGUE | RITM Expert Warns: Dengue Knows No Season

By: Tricia Aquino, InterAksyon.com

MANILA – Contrary to the misplaced belief of many, it’s not true that Dengue Fever (or Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever) is more common during the rainy season than the dry one, which is why Dr. Rosario Capeding of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) urges the public to be on guard against the disease through a two-pronged strategy.

In an interview with InterAksyon.com on Friday, she stressed the need to eradicate mosquito breeding sites, as well as getting vaccinated against the disease.

“Even though the dengue vaccine is available, it should be complemented by the dengue vector controls. The two measures should be undertaken side by side,” said Capeding, who has been doing research on dengue since the 1980s.

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Mosquitoes can lay eggs on even a tiny drop of water, Dr. Capeding explained. This is why families must get rid of stagnant water in the likes of flower vases, water drums, gutters, or any container or structure that can hold water.

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She also admonished that one does not simply throw out the water, but must clean the container as well, because residual mosquito eggs might still be sticking to the vessel’s surface.

She suggested that it would be good for incoming President Rodrigo Duterte to devote attention to this issue, and help ensure that families are proactively responsible for sanitation and hygiene in their homes and surroundings.

In Singapore, for example, authorities go house-to-house to check whether there are mosquito breeding sites there. If these are found, the family must pay a penalty. “And even then,” Capeding said, “they still had cases of dengue.”

Higher incidence
As of the latest report by the Department of Health, there were 35,658 suspected dengue cases nationwide from January 1 to April 9. This figure is 37 percent higher compared to the same period last year.

Most of the cases occurred in Region 4A (15.6%), followed by Region 3 (12.7%), Region 7 (11.4%), Region 10 (10.1%), and the National Capital Region (6.9%).

Many of the cases (39.9%) were children between the ages of five and 14 years old.

There had been 137 recorded deaths due to dengue, so far.

The DOH’s dengue immunization program, rolled out this year, has targeted one million doses of the vaccine Dengvaxia to Grade 4 students in public schools in Region III, Region IV-A, and NCR.

The vaccine has been approved for use for those aged nine to 45 years old, as a measure to prevent dengue caused by all four of its serotypes.

According to Capeding, the vaccine can reduce symptomatic dengue by 82%, as well as moderate the severity of the sickness and the chances of being hospitalized, because it becomes a milder version, which enables the patient to manage the disease at home.

“It’s a very safe vaccine. It’s an effective vaccine,” Capeding said, adding that scientists are continuing clinical studies to see if the dosage can be reduced from three to two, or even one.

Although she could not say how much it would cost for a patient to be vaccinated by a private pediatrician or internist, she explained that the more a vaccine is being used, the more its cost would go down.

Capeding could not say whether the immunization program would be continued by the incoming administration, although she hoped that DOH would consider doing so, and also widen the coverage of the free vaccination program for public school students.

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Meanwhile, the public can simply follow DOH’s “4S against Dengue”:

1. Search and Destroy: Cover water drums and pails, replace water in flower vases once a week, clean gutters of leaves and debris, collect and dispose of all unusable tin, cans, jars, bottles, and other items that can collect and hold water

2. Self-protection: Wear long trousers and long-sleeved shirts, where possible; apply mosquito repellant every day

3. Seek early consultation: Consult medical/health professionals immediately if experiencing fever that persists beyond two days, and rashes appear

4. Say YES to fogging when there is an impending outbreak or suspected hotspot

Capeding stressed that people should go for a check up once they have fever, especially if it continues on to a second or third day.

It is not always necessary for one to stay in the hospital, because the World Health Organization itself says that home management will do for those whose laboratory test results do not indicate severe indications.

But, those experiencing abdominal pain and persistent vomiting should be hospitalized, she said.

So unpredictable is the disease that a patient might bleed to death or go into shock – where insufficient blood reaches the vital organs, she said.

(Source: InterAksyon.com)