Dengue cases
in
the country are beginning to drop, but the alert continues despite the drop in temperatures.
It is already known that mosquito eggs
can survive the cold
until more benign times come for their development.
That is why it is important to prevent and not leave fertile ground for potential breeding sites.
Clarín
consulted two Conicet experts to identify 5 things that we do without realizing it and that can be dangerous in this sense, because from 48
to 72 hours
after the water remains stagnant, it is potentially risky for the proliferation of the mosquito.
A ring of Aedes aegypti eggs, after extracting the water from inside a container.
Photo EFE
1- Do not renew the water for pets or the one that is left in the trees for street dogs
"
Any water reservoir is dangerous.
Especially for
Aedes
, those that are inside homes, which is where the mosquito reproduces," explains Juan Manuel Carballeda, who is a doctor in Biology, CONICET researcher and university professor.
"The mosquito takes approximately 4 days to reach an adult (which is the way in which they can transmit dengue). Therefore, if you have pet drinking fountains, it is advisable to change the water every 3 or 4 days," he
says
.
2- Do not litter the patio, terrace or balcony
Debris is an essential activity for the control of the
Aedes aegypti
mosquito , because the resistance of its life cycle is at its beginning, as an egg, which
is deposited in any container that contains water
.
That is why it is essential, and the first preventive measure, to reduce possible mosquito breeding sites to a minimum.
"The
Aedes
are very difficult to eradicate, because they have a strong biology: they lay eggs at the water level that are resistant to temperature and drought. If the container dries up, the eggs resist until the next rainy season. They not only resist in the same dengue season but
even in winter and from one year to the next as well
," Adrián Díaz, also a CONICET researcher,
told
Clarín .
Tires are ideal breeding grounds, but the mosquito lays eggs where it finds water that has been sitting for more than 48 hours.
It helps prevent even
turning over empty pots
that don't have drainage holes.
Even in
vases
there may be breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
3-Water excessively
"If the grass is irrigated and puddles remain, it is not dangerous if the water evaporates and does not remain stagnant enough to give rise to a hatchery," explains Carballeda.
But
overwatering is a problem
: overflowing pot trays is an example of a potential breeding ground that seems imperceptible.
Water collecting on broken sidewalks can be a problem.
Photo Constance Niscovolos
4-Excessively flush broken sidewalks
"When the managers or any neighbor wash the sidewalk and they are broken or uneven,
there is a lot of accumulated water
. If it remains like this for several days, it is a possible breeding ground. But it has to remain for several days."
5-Do not use bleach frequently
"Throwing
boiling water or bleach through the grates
frequently, or into the drains, helps to kill the
Aedes
larvae ," closes the expert.
From Epidemiology of the City Government they explained to
Clarín
that this is one of the most "homemade" and common issues that could help stop the outbreak.
"The grilles in the open air, this can be in a patio, on a terrace, a balcony, where there is a little bit of water well below that you can hardly see and there the mosquito lays its eggs, the best care for that is to throw water boiling. Another, we always say,
is the plate of the pots
, like the potus, there it is perfect for mosquitoes to appear and you have to be very careful that water does not accumulate, "they mark.
ACE
look too
Dengue: why three out of four people do not have symptoms and what is the associated risk
Deaths from dengue: the data that is not disseminated and why nobody stopped what was coming