Dengue Brigade

Yesterday was our first brigade here in Puerto.  After breakfast downstairs we all climbed into vans and were bussed to a small town about 10 or 15 minutes from where we're staying.  There we met up with some of the community's public health workers who are responsible for educating and protecting the community against tropical diseases.  It was only 8:30 or 9 in the morning but we were all already dying of heat which made having to stand in the sun for an hour listening to the workers explain what we were going to be doing that day a little miserable.  Not to mention we all came dressed in long pants (most of us scrubs because we're bio nerds and have nothing else to wear) to protect us from the Dengue mosquitoes.

In any case, yesterday's brigade targeted Dengue Fever.  For those that don't know, Dengue is a disease that occurs in tropical climates. It's caused by the Dengue virus which is transmitted from human host to host by a specific species of mosquitoes called the Aedes.  The disease can actually be fatal and since all you need is one mosquito bite to contract it, it's often hard to prevent the spread of the disease.  The best place to start is by eliminating the mosquitoes that pass on the virus. As I learned, mosquitoes lay their eggs in water and then spend both their larval and pupal stages there, before they later emerge and fly off into the air as adults.  Hence standing water, whether it be in lakes, puddles, or buckets in one's backyard are great breeding grounds for mosquitoes.  When we went around and visited the different homes in the village, the first thing we did was look for mosquito larvae in existing standing water (ie in water tanks or aquatic planters). Then we looked for anything that could collect water if it were to rain (ie empty buckets and coconut shells) and either turned it upside down, punched holes in it, or got rid of it completely.

I didn't mention before but the people in this town, because of a lack of water, only getting running water in their houses 2 times a week.  Therefore they all have huge water tanks in their backyards which they fill on days when they actually get water.  The standing water in the tanks is a risk for spreading Dengue so in order to comply with health codes the residents are advised to keep their tanks covered and asked to put a special chemical in them which kills mosquito larvae. The chemical only lasts about 2 or 3 months which is another reason the public health workers have to come around so often--to check the chemicals and replace them when needed.

Inspecting a resident's water tank for mosquito larvae. The white bottle floating in the water has the bag of chemicals attached to it.

What I thought was pretty interesting and a little scary is that the chemicals they put in the water can only kill the mosquito larvae but not the pupa. This is because the larvae actually feed on the chemicals however once the larvae pass into the pupa sage, they stop eating and the chemicals no longer have any effect. As long as those pupa don't die of some other natural cause, they will develop into full grown adult mosquitoes.  Another fun fact: mosquitoes lay on average 75-100 eggs at a time. That's A LOT. Can you just imagine 100 mosquitoes all flying off at once?! What's even crazier is that if for some reason the water the eggs are laid in ends up drying out, the eggs will form a protective shell and can actually survive in the sun and out of water for up to a year.  All it takes is a little bit of rain to prompt the eggs to hatch into their larval stage.  This is how you get huge outbreaks of mosquitoes and disease right after a rainfall that's broken a dry spell.

Anywho, after we were briefed on the disease, we headed out into the community to observe how the public health workers go around and inspect homes.  Most people gladly invited us into their backyards though there was one woman who refused because the actual owner of the house was not home. In that case, as with any other time someone refuses the inspection, the workers schedule another date to come back and try again.  Obviously, since mosquitoes born in one backyard don't necessarily stay in only that backyard, it's important for the health of the entire community that every home and backyard be checked for mosquito larvae.

In any case by the time we got back to CasaMar after having spent all morning baking in the sun, I was pretty much ready to shoot someone . I was so ridiculously hot and sweaty.  The amazing tostadas we ate for lunch somewhat made up for it and then a little later Michelle and I went for a run along the beach just as the sun was setting. That really did make up for it. It was beautiful.

After I showered and everything, Erica, Ally, and Helen made us asian food for dinner--rice and cabbage/beef stir fry and we all sat out on the girls' balcony upstairs. There were about 10 or 12 of us. Sarah made some sort of tropical pineapple rum drinks for everyone. (She's a pretty legit bartender I have to say.) All in all it ended up being a really nice night.