In 2016, after a campaign to involve students and their families in dengue control, Aegypti larval indexes, including the House index (HI) known as percentage of houses infested with larvae, Breteau index (BI) known as the number of positive containers per 100 houses inspected, etc were reported to be almost halved...
In 2016, after a campaign to involve students and their families in dengue control, Aegypti larval indexes, including the House index (HI) known as percentage of houses infested with larvae, Breteau index (BI) known as the number of positive containers per 100 houses inspected, etc were reported to be almost halved in many localities in Khanh Hoa Province. Therefore, this school year, the health department together with the education department continue joining effort to expand the campaign at schools in Khanh Hoa.
Schools' active participation
In mid-September, Khanh Hoa Center for Preventive Health Care held a training course for medical and educational officials and distributed brochures on practical guidance to reduce mosquito populations to students. Truong Thi Tam, Principal of Loc Tho Primary School, Nha Trang City says early in August, the school trimmed trees, dredged drainages and sprayed pesticide to kill mosquitos in classrooms and the playground. At the start of the new school year, together with weekly propaganda on dengue epidemic control, clean-up days were organized to get pupils involved in tidying their classrooms and the playground and removing discarded water containers. Besides, cases of students suffering from dengue have been kept under surveillance for dengue prevention and control. As planned, this academic year, the school will run the dengue prevention and control campaign in mid October with the participation of nearly 700 pupils from grade 3 to grade 5 joining effort to kill larval populations and to adult vector mosquitoes.
Early in September, Mai Xuan Thuong Junior High School applied pesticide spraying, organized clean-up days to tidy classrooms, the playground and dredged drainages, etc. The school also propagandizes dengue control measures in the school radio programs and during flag ceremonies every Monday. “Joining the dengue control campaign, I am better aware of mosquito larval populations, breeding grounds and the disease transmission, etc. Now, I keep my habit of helping my mom frequently clean and drain water containers such as flower vases, jars, ect, etc,” says Nguyen Ngoc Huyen Thao, class 8/8.
|
Effectiveness
Reportedly, after piloted at some schools in 2015, the campaign has developed at 307 schools with the participation of more than 108,450 students (from grade 3 to grade 7). The Aegypti larval indexes reported after the campaign have proved effectiveness in vector surveillance in some areas. Specifically, in Cam Ranh City, after the campaign, the number of positive containers infested with larvae per 100 houses inspected is down to 25 from 45; houses infested with larvae down to 22.5% from 28%, and houses infested with mosquitoes down to 20% from 24.67%. The indexes also decrease considerably in Nha Trang, Dien Khanh and Van Ninh.
This school year, 269 primary and junior high schools in 6 districts and towns, excluding Khanh Son District and Khanh Vinh District are expected to join the campaign scheduled to last from now to the end of October.
“We hope that teachers help raise students' perceptions about mosquito larval control at home; principals need to ask teachers to follow the health department’s instructions to develop the participatory education program for dengue prevention and control; the Steering Board for Epidemic Prevention & Control needs to cooperate with relevant agencies to supervise campaign activities at schools for effectively implementing the campaign. It is advisable to compliment and reward schools and students for successful involvement in the dengue prevention and control campaign,” suggests Dr. Tran Thi Tuyet Mai, Vice-Director of Khanh Hoa Center for Preventive Health Care.
Cat Dan
Translated by N.T
