an ounce of prevention

Aside from the 46 confirmed cases of A (H1N1) in the country, dengue hemorrhagic fever is one disease I am worried about because of the wet season. There have been cases of dengue here in our area before, and so we are taking extra caution especially with Joaqui who likes to play outside the house.

According to the Department of Health, the disease is transmitted through a day-biting mosquito which lays eggs in clear and stagnant water. Because of this, we are observing the following prevention and control methods:

• Cover water drums and water pails at all times to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.
  
• Replace water in flower vases once a week.
  
• Clean all water containers once a week. Scrub the sides well to remove eggs of mosquitoes sticking to the sides.
  
• Clean gutters of leaves and debris so that rain water will not collect as breeding places of mosquitoes.
  
• Old tires used as roof support should be punctured or cut to avoid accumulation of water.
  
• Collect and dispose all unusable tin cans, jars, bottles and other items that can collect and hold water.  
  

For more information on dengue, you can visit http://www.doh.gov.ph/healthadvisories/dengue

and for A (H1N1) http://www.doh.gov.ph/h1n1/.