KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/30 August) – The South Cotabato health office is set to distribute 2,500 ovicidal/larvicidal (O/L) mosquito trap system to fight dengue even as cases in the province showed a drop in the first seven months of the year, an official said.
Dr. Rogelio Aturdido Jr., provincial health officer, said the OL mosquito trap distribution was part of the Department of Science and Technology-Region 12’s commitment to curb the deadly disease, which is spearheaded by the Department of Health.
“Local government units should help the DOST and the DOH in spreading the importance of the mosquito trap technology,” he said, adding that beneficiaries should also support the project otherwise the trap systems would just become breeding grounds for dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
The solution in the trap system should be replaced regularly because they are only good for seven to 10 days, Aturdido said.
Polomolok town has been considered a dengue hotspot as cases have been monitored also in this city and in Tampakan municipality, the Provincial Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (PESU) reported.
PESU has recorded 358 dengue cases from January to July this year, down 77 percent from the 1,615 recorded for the same period last year.
For the dengue cases in the first seven months of this year, 169 or 47 percent were from Polomolok town, it added, noting that a four-year-old victim from Barangay Pagalungan died recently.
The DOST-12 recently launched the OL trap system in Southwestern Mindanao, which according to regional director Zenaida Hadji Raof Laidan, was among the regions in the country with alarming dengue cases since last year based on the records of the DOH in Region 12.
Southwestern Mindanao covers the provinces of South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato.
Laidan said that 8,000 OL trap systems have been distributed so far, and that more will be given as the need arises.
To also effectively lick the disease, Laidan stressed the need to always maintain a clean surrounding.
Nuna Almanzor, DOST’s Industrial Technology and Development Institute (ITDI) director, said the OL trap system is a simple and cheap device that attracts dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
The technology for OL trap system developed by DOST-ITDI consists of a black tin can (plastic can as substitute), a lawanit paddle (1” x 6.5”) and the organic solution that lures Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to lay eggs in the paddle and eventually kills the eggs and larvae in the process. This simple kit costs about 20 pesos aside from the one peso for every pack of pellet.
Aedes mosquitoes attack only during daytime.
Almanzor said the national DOST and DOH offices have forged a partnership for the initial distribution of 500,000 OL mosquito traps across the country.
“The DOH wanted as many OL traps to be di
stributed across the country,” she said.
She said the Department of Education had also approached the DOST to help them curb the incidence of dengue cases in schools. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
