CORDOVA, Mary Jeargs Claire B.

BSN 2C

Mortality rates for DHF are usually less than 1% but can be as high as 5% if the disease is not treated in a timely manner.There are four virus that cause dengue. They are closely related. Infection from one type is believed to cause life long immunity to that type of virus but only short term immunity from the other types. I know one expat that developed dengue more than once. It was worse the second time but both times were fairly severe for him. He reported that it left him feeling weak for months.This leads some laymen to think each subsequent infection is worse than the previous but I have found nothing to support that. Many in the Philippines say a tea made from a common plant called Tawa-tawa helps cure the disease. Tawa-tawa is said to aid recovery from dengue fever. Ive seen some impressive sounding reports after people drink this tea. However, it could be that the disease had merely run its course. Should I get this virus, I will be sending someone out to find me some Tawa-tawa. My Filipino friend tells me it is a wild weed that can be easily found.

DengueNews03/25/2011 The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) introduced an alternative solution to address the alarming dengue situation with Ovicidal and Larvicidal mosquito trap, a low cost yet effective device designed to reduce the population of the dengue-carrying Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes by attracting and killing their eggs. DOST will distribute 200,000 kits of mosquito ovicidal-larvicidal trap to communities nationwide through its regional offices in cooperation with local government health personnel. These traps are being distributed free via the DOST. Im a little confused though as they indicate four will be provided to every household under the Nationwide anti-dengue campaign. I dont know if that is a specific region or regions or if we can expect to get four at our home. The total distribution is set at 200,000. The traps show good old Filipino ingenuity that one can see all over the Philippines. It consist of a small tin can that is painted black. Includes evaporated milk and a lawanit board. These are things that are irresistible to the mosquito. The trap reduces breading. I find it very ingenious and a good use of what I hope is recycled tin cans. Davao is experiencing a drastic increase of the number of dengue cases. Dengue cases are up 150% in that city. I have a friend living in Davao. He contracted dengue about a year ago. He didnt even know he had it until he went to the doctor for something else. He said it was not bad at all. It doesnt always have to be severe and his case was not.