Rainy days are here, and it’s during this season that moms like me go on a full alert. Somehow there seems to be a higher incidence of diseases like flu, diarrhea and pneumonia when the rains come. Of course, there’s also the much dreaded dengue – a viral disease caused by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito which is common in a tropical country like the Philippines.
It is very timely that the Department of Health (DOH) together with the Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) and pharmaceutical manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline have banded together in spearheading a campaign called “Aksyon Laban sa Dengue: A Dengue Fever Awareness and Education Program.” An important component of this program is bringing dengue prevention and information to the grassroots level, with special focus on barangays in Metro Manila which have a high incidence of the disease.
Show in photo (from left): Jeoffrey Yulo, GM of GSK Consumer Health Care, Evelyn Perez of the DOH Infectious Diseases Committee and Dr. Sally Gatchalian, PPS secretary.
There was also a symbolic ceremony where moms pledged to fight dengue in their own small way.
DOH records show that there were 204,906 dengue cases resulting in 660 deaths last year while in 2014, 24,900 cases have been recorded with 100 deaths.
In the campaign launch and forum sponsored by GSK, Dr. Sally Gatchalian of PPS noted that “dengue is a clever and cunning disease. It can disguise itself as other diseases. So, during the rainy
season, which is when we usually see an increase of dengue cases, it is important to be on the lookout for fever that is at least of two days duration.”
Aside from fever, other signs and symptoms of dengue include headaches, muscle and joint pain, nausea and vomiting, rashes similar to measles, and bleeding in severe cases. It is important to seek hospital treatment or the doctor’s advice if any of these symptoms are present.
GSK’s Yulo noted that per World Health Organization’s recommendation, Paracetamol is the preferred and only recommended analgesic treatment for dengue fever. Aspirin or ibuprofen is not advised as these drugs may aggravate bleeding.
“While there is no specific medicine to cure dengue, we can, however, alleviate the pain felt by the child by at least managing their fever, like giving them Paracetamol Calpol which provides soothing fever relief you can rely on, ” said Yulo.
Calpol has a full range or products for children aged 0 to 12 years old. For more information, visit www.calpol.com.ph or like on Facebook at http://facebook.com/CalpolPH
Recent Comments