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A bite of danger

Raymond Calderon

                Every year, many people die, rich or poor, young or old once you’re bitten by a mosquito carrying dengue, you cannot run off and hide.

                Dengue fever is an acute illness of sudden onset that usually follows a benign course. It has symptoms such as headaches, fever and exhaustion, severe muscle and joint pain, swollen glands (lymphadenophathy) and rashes. It is a disease caused by a family of virus which is transmitted by mosquitoes.

                 This illness is not only seen in the Philippines, other countries like Caribbean, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Cuba and in Paraguay in South America and Costa Rica in Central America can also experience outbreaks of dengue.

                It is prevalent throughout the tropics and subtropics country. Dengue case in the Philippines usually got high during rainy seasons from July-September.

                Actually last year, over 95,000 dengue cases were reported from January to September. That huge number of victims is very alarming and it should be an eye opener for everyone to be responsible of what should be done to avoid this kind of problem.

                Dengue can affect anyone but tends to be more severe in people with compromised immunity and of course, those living in squatters area near polluted rivers where mosquitoes likely to reproduce and breed.

                Because the dengue fever is caused by a virus, transmitted by a mosquito, there is no specific medicine or antibiotic to treat it. For a typical dengue fever, the treatment is purely concerned with relief of the symptoms. The prevention of dengue fever requires control of eradication of the mosquitoes carrying dengue-causing virus by removing containers containing stagnant waters and cleaning damage and rivers.

                Everyone may be affected by dengue. No one can say when it will come and who will catch the dengue. Remember, it can cause death, so we have to be aware on our surrounding. Keep in mind that awareness is a necessity at all times.