Summer fun is just around the corner as classes wrap-up and both kids and parents look forward to the school holidays. This means trips to the beach, vacations in the provinces, or simply just more days playing outdoors to enjoy the carefree season. There’s one risk, however, that we should look out for this summer: dengue-carrying mosquitoes. We should take steps to prevent a potentially fatal dengue infection from ruining summer for us and our loved ones.
Dengue is already a year-round disease in the Philippines. And in the summer, we tend to spend more time outdoors, wear thinner clothing, and expose more skin because of the heat. This makes us an easier target for dengue-carrying mosquitoes that bite during the day (mosquito species A. albopictus) and during the night (A. aegypti). Both of these species of dengue-carrying mosquitoes are present outdoors and indoors, increasing the risk of dengue infection for everyone.
To have a dengue-free summer, especially for the kids, here are a few reminders on prevention:
Put screens over windows and install screen doors. Screens on windows and screen doors will keep dengue-carrying mosquitoes out while still allowing us to open the doors and windows of our home so it won’t be so hot on summer days and nights.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has already declared zika as a public health emergency of international concern. Recently, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed the seventeenth (17th) Zika case in the Philippines.
.jpg)
