Letter to the Editor - The best way to kill dengue-carrying mosquitoes

I read your article (July 20) entitled "Dengue kills 13: Toll up by 66 percent. My comment is that, it is not really true what the article said that dengue cases increase because fogging activities were reduced.

The real fact why dengue cases and fatalities are increasing this year is that people are not aware or just ignoring the breeding sites of mosquitoes (metal drums, plastic containers, tires, flower pots, etc.) That means they are not doing environmental sanitation, perhaps because of lack of knowledge. That means they don't know that the mosquitoes lay eggs in the water and when they become adults, they are the carrier of dengue viruses that cause dengue fever, dengue hemorrhagic as well as dengue shock syndrome.

Another comment is about fogging. I am a biologist and I am not actually in favor of fogging. Fogging is very hazardous to the environment. It kills only the few percent of the mosquito population and has a negative impact on other organisms. Through fogging, you are just like pushing the mosquitoes away. So, the best alternative is to kill or control the larvae of mosquitoes because if there will be no larvae, there will be no adult mosquitoes that carry the viruses.

Mosquitoes have four life cycles: Eggs, larvae with four stages, pupa and adult (flying). All three stages occur in the water. That means, you have to kill or control the mosquitoes when they are still in the water like in barrels, containers, tires, etc. It is much easier than to kill them in the water than when they are already flying. Killing the larvae or stopping the life cycle means that the people should empty the barrels, containers or tires where the dengue-carrying mosquito lay their eggs.

Every year, I fly twice to Cebu just for field researches on dengue. I am soliciting funds to help solve our dengue problems in Cebu although I am working in Germany. I was there last March and I did field researches on the application of BTI tablets, a new method to kill the larvae of mosquitoes. I conducted the researches in Barangay Buhisan, Guadalupe, Pardo and Labangon. The tablets worked out very well (results were also published in this newspaper). I donated about 10,000 of the said tablets to the City Health. These tablets were used already all over the world except in the Philippines. I am now in the process of registering the said tablets so that it could be used officially for dengue programs.
Lastly, the government should not concentrate on fogging but they should focus on environmental sanitation (emptying water containers or eliminating the breeding sites of mosquitoes), educational campaign or dissemination of knowledge to the public about dengue and application of new BTI tablets. Only through this integrated control method can we help reduce our dengue cases and improve the life quality of humans and not destroy our biodiversity.

Dr. Milagros Mahilum Greif
Senior Scientist
German Mosquito Research Institute
Otterstadter Weg 62
67346 Speyer, Germany