NewsDesk @bactiman63
In an interview with Agência Brasília, Undersecretary of Health Surveillance of the Health Department, Divino Valero warns about the importance of action by residents in the fight against the transmitting mosquito of dengue fever
How is the dengue situation today in the Federal District (DF)?
It is an alert situation, but under control. Last year, we were experiencing a pandemic process with COVID. The vector control activity itself was harmed, because the Ministry of Health issued an ordinance suspending the agent’s home visit. Allied to this, until the end of last year and the beginning of this year, we had heavy rains with accentuated rainfall. Another observation is that the population continues to discard garbage in the streets and backyards. All this favored the explosion of mosquitoes in early 2022, reaching 12,000 cases.
Is this number considered high?
From an epidemiological point of view, it is not low, but it is not high either. We have a population of more than 2.5 million permanent inhabitants in the DF and we have another contributing factor, which are temporary residents, who come from the surrounding cities and total approximately 2 million. Wide circulation is a factor, not to mention that in the surroundings, almost all cities have a dengue epidemic. That’s why we signed an agreement with Ride [Integrated Development Region], and Governor Ibaneis Rocha authorized vector control in Valparaíso and Novo Gama. If you don’t kill the mosquito in the cities next door, it will cross and transmit here as well.
What are the administrative regions of the DF with the highest incidence of cases?
The main regions with negative incidence histories are Planaltina and São Sebastião. They are older, well-wooded, with many closed houses, and this favors from a biological point of view. We had eight cities in red status, with a transmission rate of more than 3%. We have already managed to reduce the number of cases in these regions, with vector and epidemiological control.
How can the population help in the fight against the mosquito?
Only a joint action between the government and the population can defeat a disease like dengue, because more than 95% of the Aedes aegypti are in people’s backyards, indoors. First, avoiding leaving everything that is disposable material in environments that can accumulate water. We need to be vigilant to all these possibilities of breeding sites that we keep without realizing it, such as buckets, cans, tires, basins and any container that has or could contain water. Also check that the water tank is closed correctly. Observe still indoors. It is necessary to get into the habit of opening the window and letting the sun in, because the mosquito that transmits dengue is behind the stove, under the table, in the kitchen and, especially, in the rooms behind the curtains. If you felt a sting during the day indoors, it’s probably Aedes aegypti. Then open the doors and curtains; You can use air freshener, so you scare away mosquitoes. Another very important thing is to put all your household waste in a tightly closed bag. In this way, we will once again defeat this dengue epidemic here in the Federal District.
What is the risk of leaving any container exposed?
The insect flies up to a thousand meters a day. The female has an intradomiciliary habit [inside the house]; it stings because it needs the blood to mature the eggs. The male is outside, in the backyard. With that, all you need is a can, a bucket or anything that can make a puddle of water, which naturally turns into a maternity ward. A female can lay 350 eggs, with more than 98% hatching. Thus, they multiply at a very high speed.
How has the Health Department acted in the fight?
The Federal District Government has a unique concern with this issue of dengue. We have garbage collection policy in all administrative regions. The government also set up a task force with all the organs of the DF, coordinated by the Health Department, which is the Response Plan to Combat Dengue. We recently hired over 1,000 health workers for home visits. As the agent visits the house and identifies the presence of mosquitoes, the government returns and carries out the indoor spraying and treatment of the deposit. Depending on whether there are suspected cases in that neighborhood or a high population density of mosquitoes, we smoke. It is important to say that the Federal District has more than 1 million properties, and the problem is inside people’s homes. The government does its part in vector control,
And how did the folder also prepare for the care of people with dengue?
Our support network is well established. We have 17 hospitals, health centers, trained doctors, laboratory structures that identify, refer, diagnose and monitor these probable cases of dengue. So much so that the Federal District, with more than 12 thousand cases, had only one death, in Sobradinho II. We work every day to reduce and eliminate any chance of having sustained cases of dengue. Therefore, we are calling on the population to help us contain the evolution of the mosquito.
The Health Department has tested other tools, such as a new smoke system and the application of aerosols inside homes and commercial establishments. What is the importance of new approaches against the mosquito?
The insect adapts, so it is necessary to modernize the control. Today the houses are bigger, the crowding of people is denser and the transport technology increases the transmission process with more speed. We need to innovate, doing reconnaissance with technology bases, deploying drones to identify abandoned spaces that need to be treated and developing spray cannons with greater power. The machine known as smoke has a limit, it goes up to a maximum of 30 meters in height with another 8 meters in length. In Lago Sul, the houses are very far from the walls. We pass with the smoke and it doesn’t give the result we wanted. Then technological tools with a greater reach are developed. What we are doing is testing all the new technologies, in a partnership between the Health Department, Fiocruz and Ministry of Health. Today we have developed traps in which the mosquito, when spawning, contaminates itself; and when it flies to spawn in another depot, it contaminates the depot. Last year we did an experimental study with the kidnapping of mosquito eggs. We managed to kidnap all the offspring and greatly reduce the number of cases. This was a successful case, and we are even thinking of replicating this modality in other cities. There are ongoing studies that will collaborate to control this insect that is extremely urbanized throughout the national territory, hence this difficulty in eliminating. The main objective of the department is, with each passing year, to further improve the techniques, reduce the number of cases and avoid deaths. This is our goal, what we run after all the time. when spawning, it becomes contaminated; and when it flies to spawn in another depot, it contaminates the depot. Last year we did an experimental study with the kidnapping of mosquito eggs. We managed to kidnap all the offspring and greatly reduce the number of cases. This was a successful case, and we are even thinking of replicating this modality in other cities. There are ongoing studies that will collaborate to control this insect that is extremely urbanized throughout the national territory, hence this difficulty in eliminating. The main objective of the department is, with each passing year, to further improve the techniques, reduce the number of cases and avoid deaths. This is our goal, what we run after all the time. when spawning, it becomes contaminated; and when it flies to spawn in another depot, it contaminates the depot. Last year we did an experimental study with the kidnapping of mosquito eggs. We managed to kidnap all the offspring and greatly reduce the number of cases. This was a successful case, and we are even thinking of replicating this modality in other cities. There are ongoing studies that will collaborate to control this insect that is extremely urbanized throughout the national territory, hence this difficulty in eliminating. The main objective of the department is, with each passing year, to further improve the techniques, reduce the number of cases and avoid deaths. This is our goal, what we run after all the time. Last year we did an experimental study with the kidnapping of mosquito eggs. We managed to kidnap all the offspring and greatly reduce the number of cases. This was a successful case, and we are even thinking of replicating this modality in other cities. There are ongoing studies that will collaborate to control this insect that is extremely urbanized throughout the national territory, hence this difficulty in eliminating. The main objective of the department is, with each passing year, to further improve the techniques, reduce the number of cases and avoid deaths. This is our goal, what we run after all the time. Last year we did an experimental study with the kidnapping of mosquito eggs. We managed to kidnap all the offspring and greatly reduce the number of cases. This was a successful case, and we are even thinking of replicating this modality in other cities. There are ongoing studies that will collaborate to control this insect that is extremely urbanized throughout the national territory, hence this difficulty in eliminating. The main objective of the department is, with each passing year, to further improve the techniques, reduce the number of cases and avoid deaths. This is our goal, what we run after all the time. There are ongoing studies that will collaborate to control this insect that is extremely urbanized throughout the national territory, hence this difficulty in eliminating. The main objective of the department is, with each passing year, to further improve the techniques, reduce the number of cases and avoid deaths. This is our goal, what we run after all the time. There are ongoing studies that will collaborate to control this insect that is extremely urbanized throughout the national territory, hence this difficulty in eliminating. The main objective of the department is, with each passing year, to further improve the techniques, reduce the number of cases and avoid deaths. This is our goal, what we run after all the time.
Another problem for work is the abandoned buildings and cars, in addition to the rubble on the streets. Can the population call the government in these cases?
Our guideline is to report. You can call the Environmental Surveillance Directorate. We have specific programs for collecting tires on the streets and teams that visit the sites, but even the 1,000 health agents that the government has hired are not enough to serve all the properties in the DF. People can call 160 or regional administrations and the SLU. This is a civic action. It’s no use thinking about individual health if you don’t have a collective look. A deposit is enough for the mosquito to start the transmissibility process.
