For Dengue fever, prevention is better than cure

In the lead-up to the 2016 Rio, Brazil Olympics, an outbreak of the Zika virus and Dengue fever threatened to throw the games into disarray. The worry was that fearing for their lives, participants would boycott the XXXI Olympiad. Thankfully, that did not happen because Brazilian authorities went all out to rid the country of mosquitoes, the vectors in the disease.

Both the Zika virus and Dengue fever are spread by mosquitoes and are deadly than the killer malaria.

On Tuesday, Taita Taveta County issued an alert over the spread of the disease in the county with 34 cases of hospitalization reported.

For diseases like Dengue fever, prevention is always better than the cure.

In severe cases, the disease causes bleeding and shock that can be life threatening. Symptoms include fever, rash and muscle and joint pain. The likelihood of the fever spreading to other areas with high casualty rates is high.

In 2014, three deaths arising from Dengue fever were reported in Mombasa. Scientists say Dengue fever thrives in unhygienic environments and highly populated habitats. It does not help things that the heavy rains pounding parts of the country will cause heavy flooding and stagnant water pools, where mosquitoes readily breed.

County governments should lead in public health initiatives to clean and drain away swamps of water and ensure that hospitals are stocked with adequate medication to address the rising cases.