Plant extract offers answer vs dengue

MANILA, Philippines -  The unexpected rain and floods brought by tropical storm “Bebeng” during the country’s summer season might worsen dengue cases in the coming months and the public should take extra measures to prevent the spread of disease-carrying mosquitoes.

This scenario was based on an earlier advisory given by the Department of Health (DOH) that dengue cases in the country were nearing the 20,000-mark from January to April this year.

Among the long-established ways to control and prevent dengue-carrying mosquitoes within the community is to regularly spray insecticide inside and outside of homes in areas where mosquitoes usually concentrate. However, some have concerns over health and environment issues using insecticide.  

One global company now offers environment-friendly insecticide derived from plants that are safe for humans and the environment.

Rod Arellano, country manager of NCH Philippines, a wholly owned subsidiary of US-based NCH Corp., said they manufacture environment-safe pesticides extracted from plants or natural and synthetic insecticides safe for use around humans and animals.

“We have a natural insecticide derived from the flower extracts of chrysanthemum called Pyrethrum. This natural substance has been used to effectively kill insects for the past 200 years. Pyrethrum is on the US Environment Protection Agency’s Permanent Food Tolerance List,” Arellano said.

“Moreover, our Pyrafog-S is a residual insecticide with a powerful broad spectrum formulation that kills mosquitoes and other crawling insects on contact and by ingestion,” he added.

Arellano said Pyrethrum insecticide is being used in their X-mosquito system that combines advanced spraying technology and automated “dusk-dawn mechanism” that employs controlled spraying to dispense the natural insecticides over a determined area at times where mosquito activity is greatest.

Arellano added that the Pyrafog-S’ active ingredients are dual pyrethroid-based pesticide registered for use in mosquito control by the EPA and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Pyrafog-S is registered for use against mosquitoes in swamps, marshes, outdoor residential and recreational areas. It has very low toxicity to humans, mammals, and the environment, making it ideal for use in combating dengue in congested communities in Metro Manila.

The National Epidemiology Center (NEC) reported that a total of 17,228 people contracted dengue during the first quarter this year. DOH reported that in Metro Manila alone, there were 3,640 dengue cases from January to February or a 106 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Moreover, Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, DOH program manager for emerging and re-emerging diseases, said the DOH is hopeful that the public would take advantage of summer to prepare for an expected further increase in dengue cases during the rainy days.

Suy said the public should start getting rid of used tires, empty cans and bottle caps that can hold water and become breeding sites of dengue-causing mosquitoes.

For inquiries, call NCH Philippines at (632) 687-4839 or log on to www.nch.com.