Total involvement key in fighting mosquitoes
Aedes Aegypti mosquito
Aedes Aegypti mosquito

EVERY community must play an active role in the fight to eliminate breeding sites of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), Dr C James Hospedales has said.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the main vector that transmits the parasite that causes dengue. The parasite is passed on to humans through the bite of an infected female Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which acquires the parasite mainly while feeding on the blood of an infected person.

The mosquito also spreads Chikungunya, Zika and Yellow Fever, among other diseases.
Commenting on the importance of Caribbean Mosquito Awareness week, which will be observed from May 8-12, Dr Hospedales said all must get involved in the campaign to prevent the spread of these diseases.
“Community participation is critical to the success of any programme designed to eliminate breeding sites of the Aedes aegypti mosquito.Efforts are doomed to failure if even one household is negligent,” he stated.

In his assessment of the mosquito-prevention efforts in the Region thus far, Dr Hospedales noted that strategies for control of the mosquito, which causes Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika are failing. According to him, what is needed is an “all-hands-on-board approach.”
Dr Karen Polson Edwards, CARPHA Assistant Director of Surveillance, Disease Prevention Control, echoed those sentiments.
“Mosquitoes are social creatures and we are their preferred host. Their breeding sites are mostly man-made water containers. This being the case, we all have the power to eliminate them by destroying their breeding sites. The message of taking 10 minutes a week to check surroundings for and destroying any breeding sites is always relevant and should become part of our routine,” she explained.

For Caribbean Mosquito Awareness Week 2017, strengthening household and community participation is key. Everyone feels the effects of mosquito-borne illnesses. It affects our economy and has the potential to negatively affect the tourism sector, the major revenue earner for many Caribbean islands. It also contributes to loss of productivity, ill health and death. The possibility of babies being born with microcephaly and men, in particular, contracting Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), as a result of being bitten by an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito, is also of concern.

This second annual Caribbean Mosquito Awareness Week is intended to bring greater awareness of the mosquito vector, through education and social engagement in CARPHA member states. It is hoped that greater awareness and engagement would bring about behavioural change leading to the elimination of the Aedes aegypti mosquito and greater personal protection, especially as the rainy season approaches.

CARPHA is maintaining that everyone has a part to play in the elimination of breeding sites and taking the necessary steps to ensure that he or she is not bitten. The agency is upping calls for persons to destroy mosquito-breeding sites by securely covering domestic water storage containers such as barrels, drums and buckets; properly discarding tyres and containers that collect water; covering and sealing tanks, soak-aways and cisterns. It is also encouraging persons to avoid mosquito bites.

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