Do You Think Cleaning Can Free Us from Dengue? and Why?

Dengue infection is prevalent worldwide, affecting tropical countries and southern parts of Temperate countries. Millions of infections are reported yearly, and despite vaccines available, Dengue persist as one of the deadly diseases that affect Filipino children and adults. Living in a country known to have cases of Dengue, we know that controlling the mosquito population by cleaning our surroundings is the key to keep Dengue at bay. Equipped with this knowledge, why do we still get Dengue? 

Yes, cleaning can free us from Dengue. It is effective and have actually helped reduce the number of cases. When the Philippine Department of Health launched an information drive decades ago against Dengue, the number of reported infections were reduced. But the real questions are:

• Are we cleaning effectively?
• Are we cleaning as a community?

Cleaning Effectively

Cleaning effectively is step towards preventing Dengue. Mosquitoes do not naturally stay where humans stay. The eat (or drink) blood from mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds. They generally dwell more near humans because we are probably the largest food source in the area where they live, we have pets that they can feed on to as well, and there are generally bodies of water around us (pool, ponds, bathroom, and so on.) That would mean, we need to make sure there are no places for them to breed (and spread), and there are no places they can hide by doing the  following:

• Remove stagnant water around the house (empty bottles, cans, and so on);
• Reduce clutter where mosquitoes can hide (do a general home cleaning of your space);
• Ensure that your pool contains enough chlorine;
• Add anti-mosquito measures in pond by placing live fish or mosquito repelling plants;
• Installing anti-mosquito devices (bug zappers, planting citronella plants);

Cleaning as a Community

If only a few households clean their place, chances are, these mosquitoes will just transfer to the next door and breed there. Like every disease, steps and actions should be well coordinated within the community to stop it from spreading. The Anti-Dengue Fumigation drive done by the barangay can only help at some point, but as long as there is a chance for some mosquitoes to hide and breed, Dengue will remain as a feared disease for us. It is recommended that you do the following in your community:

• Community cleaning of storm drains and gutters;
• Community cleaning of parks and side walks;
• Community cleaning of garbage areas;
• Regular fumigation to kill mosquitoes and their eggs;

Though we can’t fight Dengue just by wearing masks and observing physical distancing. It would help if we apply what we have learned from this pandemic so we could stop Dengue as well:

Isolate – patients infected by Dengue should be isolated from mosquitoes so that the insect will not transfer it to a healthy person;

Disinfect with bleach – Mosquitoes do not lay eggs on are with water accumulation that have been disinfected by bleach. Bleach kill mosquito eggs and larvae;

Monitor symptoms – such as high fever (40 C), with rashes, headache and body ache;

Boost your immunity – by eating healthy and exercising, you can reduce the chances of experiencing severe Dengue fever;

Avoid crowded spaces – Mosquitoes love a crowd and spaces with crowded furniture. Chances of getting bitten by a mosquito with Dengue virus is high as well in crowded spaces;