KILL dengue-carrying mosquitoes by building their breeding sites.
Provincial Health Office (PHO) head Dr. Rene Catan, said his office is planning to maximize the use of ovitraps to control mosquito population in the province and stop the rise of dengue cases.
Dr. Catan said these artificial breeding sites are cheap and effective way of combatting mosquitoes and dengue.
“Usa ka pamaage aron nato masugpo ang spread sa disease, atong patyon or i-limit ang population sa mosquito,” he said. (One way to stop the spread of dengue is to eradicate or limit the population of mosquitoes.)
He said he will talk with officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) next week to propose that elementary science students be required to build ovitraps as part of their science requirements.
“Gawas sa pag panlimpyo, giapil na nato ang pagbuhat sa ovitrap para sa dengue mosquitoes. Kay ang mosquito makit-an nato, ang dengue dili man.
(Aside from encouraging them to clean their surroundings, we also include making ovitraps for dengue mosquitoes. Because we can only see the mosquitoes but not the dengue virus.),” Catan said.
Ovitraps have been used by other countries to combat mosquito population and even by the US military on bases in malarial zones.
The ovitrap, developed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in 2015, consists of a black container, a lawanit paddle where mosquitoes lay their eggs, and a pack of pellets to make a solution that kills the eggs and larvae of mosquitoes.
In 2015, 18 schools have installed the ovitraps. A total of 51 schools in Central Visayas region, including 11 in Negros Oriental, have these traps. Twelve schools in Bohol and 11 in Siquijor also participated in the program.
Dr. Catan added that he will be meeting with dengue experts on Monday to review the current anti-dengue program.
He also advised parents of children who got the first dose of Dengvaxia shots to go to the nearest Rural Health Units (RHUs).
“We encourage the parents of these children to return to the RHUs aron modugang sila sa information nga gipangayo sa (to provide the required information by the) Department of Health (DOH),” Catan said.
Contact numbers of the parents and their addresses are also needed to monitor the children who received Dengvaxia.
In Cebu, about 150,000 kids received the first dose of the controversial anti-dengue vaccines.