Philipsburg- Commissioner of Public Health Maria Buncamper-Molanus commends the St. Peters Community Council for taking the initiative to have a walk-through tentatively set for next weekend to speak with the residents about a number of issues and to disseminate flyers about how to prevent mosquito breeding and thereby prevent the spread of dengue fever.
The St. Peters Council is in the process of printing flyers that will be given out to residents in their community during the walk through.
The Sucker Garden community also came together a few weeks ago and did a neighborhood clean-up campaign which entailed the removal of debris and overgrown vegetation which are ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
Commissioner Buncamper-Molanus is calling on all community councils and civic organizations to get involved and help clean-up their neighborhoods in order to stem the tide in the number of dengue fever cases on the island.
Those community councils and civic organizations that are considering neighborhood clean-up campaigns should contact the Department of Public Works at 542-4289 to see in what way assistance could be facilitated and what advice could be provided for a successful neighborhood clean-up.
"I commend the St. Peters Council and Sucker Garden community initiatives that are schedule to take place and have taken place to date as it is a necessity. This is the type of community response that we are looking for in order to fight the mosquito responsible for spreading dengue fever throughout our communities.
"The multi disciplinary teams that have come together under the umbrella of the Dengue Action Response Team (DART Team) cannot do it alone. Every household has to take action now. We have an outbreak of dengue fever and you need to act now before you or family member becomes ill," Commissioner of Public Health Maria Buncamper-Molanus told the Government Information Service (GIS) on Sunday.
All neighborhoods need to mobilize in order to prevent the further increase in the number of dengue cases. Statistical information reveals that dengue fever is affecting all residential districts on the island.
Every household has to take urgent measures to limit the breeding ground for mosquitoes.
Symptoms of dengue fever are: sudden onset of high fever; severe headache (mostly in the forehead); pain behind the eyes which worsens with eye movement; body aches and joint pains; nausea or vomiting; rash in some cases; an unpleasant metallic taste in the mouth, and loss of appetite.
If you have symptoms of dengue fever, you should consult your general physician.
Anyone requiring additional information concerning measures to prevent mosquito breeding or to report areas of standing water, overgrown vegetation etc should immediately call the Hygiene Department at 542-2079.