A bag of rubbish hanging in a backyard almost turned into a trap for retired Antônia Maria dos Prazeres Araújo, 68 years old. The rain that fell overnight in the Federal District caused the plastic bag to accumulate water. If it had remained open all weekend, the bag would have become a breeding ground for the dengue mosquito.
Brasília (DF), 12/14/2024 – Antônia Maria dos Prazeres receives instructions on how to combat dengue fever at home. Photo: José Cruz/Agência Brasil
Problem solved with a hole in the bottom of the bag, which allowed the water to drain and avoid the worst. “I’m always worried about cleanliness, especially because I raise cats, but I had left the bag from yesterday until today and hadn’t noticed the accumulated water”, says Antônia, when alerted by an agent from the Environmental Surveillance of the Federal District.
The retired woman’s house was one of those chosen to be inspected at the Mobilization D-Day against Denguewhich takes place across the country this Saturday (14) and was opened by the Minister of Health, Nísia Trindade in Rio de Janeiro.
D-Day to combat dengue. Photo: José Cruz/Agência Brasil
In the Federal District, the collective effort took place in Ceilândia, a city 30 kilometers from Brasília. The action brought together 47 firefighters, 30 environmental guards, five health guards and three cars with “fumacê” (insecticide) at QNP 32. Representatives from the Ministry of Health also provided support. The agents applied larvicides or water treatment tablets to possible outbreaks and advised residents to prevent the mosquito from appearing. Aedes aegypti.
“Today, there is a vaccine against dengue, but it is not available to everyone. Only people aged 10 to 14 are being vaccinated. The best way to combat dengue is prevention, through the population’s care in avoiding outbreaks”, warns the general coordinator of Arbovirus Surveillance at the Ministry of Health, Lívia Vinhal.
Ideal time
According to Lívia, the best time to combat dengue is now, just before the beginning of summer, to avoid a repeat of last summer’s super-epidemic, which killed 7,000 people and recorded more cases than in the previous four years. “Global warming contributed to this change. In recent years, we haven’t had such cold winters. Several temperate countries that did not have the mosquito started to register transmissions”, he highlights.
The coordinator of the Ministry of Health explains that the D-Day Mobilization against Dengue was planned for months, in meetings with experts and State Health Departments, during the months of drought that affected a large part of the country. “Now, we don’t have as many breeding sites or as many cases. It is the ideal time to take joint actions to reduce the infestation”, he states.
Lívia Vinhal, surveillance coordinator at the Ministry of Health. Photo: José Cruz/Agência Brasil
Joint efforts will take place weekly in each administrative region of the DF. “Every Saturday, we will mobilize various government agencies to combat the dengue mosquito. If the population does not engage, all of the GDF’s efforts [Governo do Distrito Federal] to combat the mosquito will be in vain, and the situation at the end of last year and the beginning of this year will be repeated”, warns the president of the Urban Cleaning Superintendency (SLU) of the Federal District, Luiz Felipe Carvalho.
Community prevention
At the house of retired Antônia Maria, Environmental Surveillance agents advised her not to leave buckets uncovered, even if they contain clean water, and to cover the cavities of old water and sewage network covers with cement paste where rainwater pools and of cleaning. “You can make sure that, on your next visit, there won’t be any more holes in the lids”, promises the housewife.
The main potential source of dengue mosquitoes, however, was not in Dona Antônia’s house, but in the neighbor’s gutter, which leads to her yard and is clogged and has accumulated dirt and leaves. “I’ll talk to him again to clean the gutter”, says the pensioner while an agent hanging from a ladder applies larvicide to the gutter. “The fight against dengue, above all, is community-based. Each resident is responsible not only for themselves, but for those close to them”, warns the president of SLU.
