Today Ill be sharing with you more information about dengue,

meant for all schools, from The National Environment Agency. I will
explain how dengue is spread and what we can do to stop it. Please
listen carefully as dengue can strike anyoneyou and me.
So what is dengue fever?
Dengue fever is an illness caused by the dengue virus which is
spread by the Aedes mosquito.
How do you know if you have dengue fever? You have dengue fever
if you have a fever that does not go away even after a few days; You
may also experience headaches, muscle and joint pains, skin rash,
and vomiting.
318 dengue cases were reported in the week ending 22 aug, 125
cases fewer than the previous week. Although this was an
improvement, we still remain in the peak dengue season. Areas of
concern include the dengue clusters at the cck, macpherson, kaki
bukit and ubi areas. All stakeholders in these clusters need to step
up vigilance and efforts to stem dengue transmission urgently
Operationally, a dengue cluster indicates a locality with active
transmission where intervention is targeted. It is formed when two
or more cases have onset within 14 days and are located within
150m of each other (based on residential and workplace addresses
as well as movement history). The clusters are categorised
according to their current status. A list of preventive actions also
accompanies each alert level. There are 3 alert levels:

Now Ill tell you about the Aedes mosquito which spreads dengue.
1) You can identify an Aedes mosquitoe from other mosquitoes by
the black & white stripes on its body and legs. Because of this, it is
also known as the tiger mosquito.
2) It usually bites during the day.
3) The Aedes mosquito lays its eggs in clean, stagnant water. A pool
of water as small as a twenty cent coin is all that is needed for it to
breed.
Only the female mosquitoes feed on blood, as they need the blood
protein to lay their eggs.
Despite a short life span of two to three weeks, each female Aedes
mosquito is able to lay up to 300 eggs.
As seen in this diagram of the Aedes mosquitos life cycle, it only
takes about a week for the mosquito complete the 4 stages
consisting of the egg, larva and pupa stage before it becomes an

adult mosquito. As one female mosquito lays up to 300 eggs each

time, just imagine how many mosquitoes can be hatched!

We all know by now that the Aedes mosquito spreads the dengue
virus, but how exactly do they do it? Mosquitoes cannot transmit the
dengue virus amongst themselves, they need to first bite a person
who is already infected with the dengue virus. The infected
mosquito will then carry the dengue virus and pass it onto a healthy
person when it bites him/her and causing them to fall sick. The cycle
then continues with the new victim.
So now that you know more about the dengue, what can you do to
stop it?

You can buy many different kinds of insect repellents. Some work
better than others. DEET provides the longest-lasting protection
against mosquito bites.1 It is important for pregnant and nursing
women to follow these tips for safe use of insect repellents. If you
have a question or concern about the use of insect repellents, talk
with your doctor.
The most important thing you need to do is to stop the Aedes
mosquito from breeding.
Remove all stagnant water. Dont let it lay its eggs.
Here are the 10-minute mozzie wipe out exercise that you could
work on to help get rid of stagnant water in and around your house.