ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanews/10 June) – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is installing 12,000 Ovicidal/Larvicidal (OL) traps in in elementary and secondary schools in the region to help prevent dengue fever.
DOST Regional Director Brenda Nazareth-Manzano said the target of DOST’s Industrial Technology Development Institute (ITDI) is to attain 100 percent coverage of all elementary and secondary schools in the installation of the OL traps.
She said this will be done in close coordination with the Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Health (DOH).
Dr. Norvie Jalani, head of the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (RESU) of DOH, disclosed they have recorded a total of 2,716 dengue cases in the region from January until May 25 this year, with Zamboanga City posting the highest.
Isabela City in Basilan has the lowest dengue cases, Jalani said.
Zamboanga City topped the region with 1,352 cases of dengue followed by 666 in Zamboanga del Norte, 316 in Zamboanga Sibugay, 229 in Zamboanga del Sur and 153 in Isabela City.
Manzano said the OL trap comprises three components: a black cup, a fiberboard and, organic pellets and is easy to use: first, fill the cup with water, then pour a sachet of organic pellet and place the stick, which is made of fiberboard, into the solution with the rough surface facing up.
The OL trap can be placed indoors or outdoors in low-lying areas and “let it stand for six to seven days,” she said.
After the seventh day, she said gently brush off into the solution the mosquito egg stuck on the stick by using used toothbrush and then dispose all the liquid content of the cup on dry ground and repeat the same procedure.
She said the scent of the organic pellet solution attracts female mosquitoes into the OL trap where they lay eggs on the fiberboard stick, which is made of Lawanit, and on the solution itself.
The eggs and the wrigglers die once they get exposed to the solution thereby preventing the next generation of mosquitoes from reaching adulthood, she added.
Manzano is optimistic that the installation of OL traps in the different schools will help bring down the cases of dengue here in the region. (MindaNews)