Rimar M.

Boter Grade 11 – Eloquence

Writing Pattern: Categorical/Topical

Purpose: To inform

I can still remember the tiny needle piercing my skin, in purpose of getting my blood
sample to be tested in the laboratory. My vision was hazy, yet the tingling pain from the
syringe did enough to keep me wide awake. As I glanced on my left side, I saw a patient
with the same situation as mine. The only difference is that, a red stain was visible on her
nose. Minutes later, I found myself waking up from a deep slumber with a sudden
realization of everything. I was admitted in the hospital because of a mosquito-borne
infection. I was diagnosed with dengue, and the girl beside me, died.
I know some of us do have a knowledge about what really dengue is. Now for
those who didn’t, Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection causing a sever flu-like
illness and, sometimes, causing a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the main vector that transmits the viruses that cause
dengue. It is passed on to humans through the bites of an infective female Aedes
mosquito, which mainly acquires while feeding on the blood of an infected person. Once
infected, the person may develop symptoms like headache, nausea, high fever and more.
The incidence of dengue has increased 30-fold over the last 50 years. Up to 50-
100 million infections are now estimated to occur annually in over 100 endemic countries,
putting almost half of the world’s population at risk. Here in the Philippines, a National
Dengue Epidemic was declared on August 6, 2019. Almost 280,000 cases including 1,
107 deaths were reported through DOH routine surveillance system, with a Case Fatality
Rate of 0.41%.
There is no specific treatment for dengue. However, intervention can help
depending on how severe the dengue is. In milder forms, treatment includes preventing
dehydration process and taking pain killers or paracetamols. While in severe form, it
needs intravenous fluid supplementation or even blood transfusion. We can prevent
dengue by avoiding mosquito bites, using mosquito repellents and traps. We can also
add door and window screens and most importantly, clean and remove stagnant water
for the Aedes mosquito breeds in that kind of environment.
So, are you willing to see someone dying in front of you because of dengue? If no,
then take actions in prevention now! I will even use the cliché quotation, “Prevention is
better than cure” just to motivate all of you. Do it and expect the impalpable dengue to be
vanished.