Good news about Dengue

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor CHERYL CRUZ Desk Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

There’s a saying that it’s an ill wind that blows no good, and perhaps we can quote this again when we consider the latest report about the development of a new vaccine that is expected to control the other plague that has been claiming victims in several parts of the world, among them, the Philippines.

For several years now, our government, particularly our Health Department, has been facing the perennial problem of Dengue, that affects people of all ages, but seems to hit the younger ones more. Statistics have shown that the disease rears up especially in the rainy months when the dengue carriers, the mosquito known as the Aedes egypti, thrives because of the availability of stagnant water where they thrive.

When Dengue season comes, our hospitals are full of patients, some of them even have to be accommodated in corridors because the sheer number of the victims can no longer be provided adequate rooms and wards.

To the credit of our Health officials, they are not remiss in issuing warnings, giving instructions on how to prevent and avoid contamination, but still, the disease continues to claim victims regularly.

That is why the news that a vaccine is now in the works is very welcome, indeed. Maybe this breakthrough will be as historic as what the world experienced when vaccines against typhoid fever, cholera, measles and so many other diseases, had been developed.

Perhaps, when this vaccine becomes available, with 2015 as its target date, we will no longer see the statistics of about 50,000 people being affected, with a fatality rate of 2.5 percent.

In the meantime, however, let us continue to heed the advices and suggestions of our Health authorities regarding the means by which we can prevent our loved ones from being infected, among which is the maintenance of cleanliness in our sorroundings.*