Practise good hygiene to keep dengue at bay

THE public has been advised to observe good hygiene and sanitation of their surrounding areas in order to control the spread of dengue fever as currently there is no vaccine for the infectious disease caused by mosquitoes.

"First, people should get rid of stagnant water. If they want to keep water (in containers) inside their homes, it would be wise to cover the top. If they don't, then they should change the water at least two to three times a week," said Senior Health Officer Kamaludin Mohd Yassin from the Environmental Health Division of the Ministry of Health.

He said that it was difficult to kill the mosquitoes' eggs as they could withstand living in high temperatures for six months.

Although the department has conducted campaigns and inspections to households regularly throughout the year, the biggest challenge was to "control the breeding of vectors inside a household", said Kamaludin.

He related that since 2003, the department's staff had gone to houses at Kampong Ayer three to four times a year. Since January this year, 14 cases of dengue fever have been detected at five areas in Kampong Ayer alone.

He said that in the past between 30 and 40 cases of dengue fever were discovered annually nationwide.

The senior health officer said when they conducted the campaigns, they usually gave people advice on controlling the spread of dengue, handing out awareness pamphlets and even carrying out "fogging" as a means of vector control.

"However, people in Kampong Ayer like to keep water in drums inside their houses. They also like to place saucers under their flower pots, which is a very likely place for mosquitoes to breed," he said.

Kamaludin stressed the need for prevention from infection.

"We (the department and the public) need to work together and control our environment by observing hygiene and sanitation. To stop the breeding, we also need to get rid of stagnant water."

Also, he urged residents to cooperate by allowing the department to check their houses for dengue-breeding areas.

Speaking from past experience, Kamaludin said the public had called the division to come over to their residences to fog the area when they were bitten by mosquitoes at night.

"This is the wrong concept, as fogging the area will not eliminate the problem. Fogging will only get rid of the problem for two to three weeks. What the public needs to do is to find the source of breeding and control it," he said.

The senior health officer noted breeding usually started after the annual rainfall season.

In addition to ongoing awareness campaigns, Kamaludin said the division had several television shows on dengue which aired regularly on Radio Televisyen Brunei's (RTB) Rampai Pagi. "I hope people watch these shows. Astro airs similar programmes on dengue, and I hope that when they watch it, they will heed the advice," he said. The Brunei Times