Dengue Fever What You Should Know

The Philippines being a tropical country hosts a myriad of diseases. We hear of Dengue fever and Dengue hemorrhagic fever on a yearly basis. Although it is already past the peak season of Dengue illness, it pays to know more about this disease. There are still sporadic cases all year long.

The causative agent of Dengue is a Flavivirus. The virus belongs to the group that shares a common feature, they are arthropod-borne hence the group name arbovirus or arboviridae. For Dengue disease, the vector is a mosquito. In the Philippines it is the Aedes aegypti mosquito. This is a day-biting mosquito that thrives in urban communities. There are two interconnected cycles, the sylvan and urban cycles. The sylvan cycle maintains the existence of the virus in the wild. The flavivirus is transmitted between the Aedes vector and a mammal host. The urban cycle starts when a carrier mosquito happens to wander to an urban community. A human host will be infected through mosquito bites. The infected blood will then be spread to other susceptible hosts by the Aedes vector. The mosquito is infective from the second week after biting a viremic human and remains so for several months. There is no vertical transmission (not passed to the next mosquito generation) of the virus.

Outbreaks are usually confined since the flight range of A. aegypti is limited. Oftentimes the spread is house-to-house. Small and/or artificial water-collecting vessels and plants and trees that collect water in their nooks and crannies are the breeding sites of Aedes aegypti. Breeding booms during rainy season.

An infective mosquito bite will have clinical manifestations in humans after 2-14 days. In mild cases, there are only non-specific signs and symptoms. There may be fever, muscle and joint pains, headache, lymphadenopathies, and rash. This mimics other common viral infections. Working diagnosis depends on high suspicion. The clinical disease coincides with the viremia (virus in the blood). With proper supportive care (i.e. fluids, antipyretic, bed rest) cases may resolve without any problem in less than a week.

Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a more severe syndrome. This is what the attending physician is watching out for. There may be symptoms of headache, chills and body malaise preceding the onset of fever. The temperature pattern has a saddle-back form. There is fever in the first couple of days that subsides on the next 3 or 4 days then the temperature rises again. The rash may appear during the non-febrile stage then fades with desquamation after 3 days. Although the early stage is very similar to normal Dengue fever, the condition of the patient might suddenly worsen.

Dengue shock syndrome, characterized by hemoconcentration and shock, may set in without any warning. The pathogenesis of the syndrome is not yet fully understood. Under the microscope small blood vessels show swelling and edema around them. Certain chemicals (procoagulants and vasoactive mediators) are released causing widespread clotting of blood inside the blood vessels (disseminated intravascular coagulation).

Prevention of the occurrence of Dengue fever and its more severe form Dengue hemorrhagic depends on effective control of the Aedes aegypti population. Regular elimination of breeding sites and simultaneous fumigation can keep the numbers down. Early detection and intervention by your physician may prevent complications.

"Live Free" Concert

Project Title: Live Free Concert

Project Background:

Life Haven, Inc. (LHI) is a non-profit organization of persons with disabilities duly registered at
the SEC with a mission to promote the Independent Living (IL) philosophy. The Independent Living
movement started in Berkley, California during the 70�s and became a worldwide phenomenon
encouraging the restoration of self-confidence and self-respect of persons with disabilities, promoting
active participation and awareness of our inherent rights such as equal opportunities. The movement is
striving for social change that will result to a barrier-free society where persons with disabilities are living
in the community and enjoying life to the utmost.

Life Haven's vision, mission and goal can be summarized as establishment of an IL centre in the Philippines. Life Haven is a member of the Asia-Pacific Network for IL Centers (www.apnil.org),Philippine Council on IL and an associate organization of Asia Pacific Development Center on Disability (www.apcdproject.org). Members of Life Haven have undergone orientation seminars and workshops about independent living philosophy and movement here and abroad. We have a steady progress with regard to our activities and the services that we provide. We have held several workshops and orientations of our own with guest resource persons from Japan and Korea and attendees from different provinces of Luzon.

Life Haven provides the following services:

• Advocacy
• Peer counseling
• Peer support group
• Peer visits
• Information dissemination
• Wheelchair assistance
• IL program

To sustain our activities and continue the services that we provide we will hold the �Live Free� concert on May 30, 2009. This fundraising project will showcase performing arts talent of persons with disabilities. The main performer is the Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled Performance Art Troupe which will be joined by Filipinos with disabilities and mainstream bands that support our cause.

In 1993, the Beautiful Gate Foundation (BGF) for the Disabled was established in Petaling Jaya Malaysia. They provide accommodations, job trainings, education, recovery programs and various services including independent living programs and services to support persons with disabilities to live independently. The BGF Performance Art Troupe has proven their mettle as shown in their numerous performances like in states and cities throughout Malaysia, such as Sabah, Penang, and Kuala Lumpur. BGF Performance Art Troupe has made a Malaysian record by presenting a wheelchair dance with the most number of dancers and represented Malaysia in the International Disability Art Festival. Beautiful Gate hopes to demonstrate the beauty and strength of persons with disabilities; inculcate a culture of love; and bring hope, warmth and encouragement to the society through performing arts.

Purpose of the Project

• To raise funds for IL activities and services;
• To encourage cooperation amongst organizations from foreign and local to showcase their talentsin performing arts;
  
• To demonstrate the determination of persons with disabilities and the desire to live
  independently;
  
• To promote the greatness of loving and caring spirit of the society and their social responsibility.

Performance Date: May 30, 2009

Expected Outcome:

We are expecting that the audience of the show will have a better understanding about the lives of persons with disabilities and their determination, aspirations and their potentials as human beings. It is also expected that the audience will understand the meaning of independent living for persons with disabilities, more particularly, how people with severe disabilities achieve their independence.

Presented by:
Abner Manlapaz

President: Life Haven, Inc.


Email: lifehaven@gmail.com

The Winning President

There was a worldwide celebration when President Barack Obama was announced the winner of the US presidential election. There was so much hoopla everywhere. The people I saw on TV interviews exuded excitement and enthusiasm. For a change, in this last election it didn't seem like it was a Republican versus a Democrat competition.

It was a triumph of another kind. For the first time, this is mentioned hundreds perhaps thousands of times, an African-American won the presidential race. There are numerous African-Americans coming out and becoming more active during the presidential campaign and much much more during the inauguration day.

I have nothing against the African-American people but I think and I feel that when there is always a mention of an individual's race or colour there is always some tinge of racism. In the case at hand for example, I don't want to be the party pooper, but can we stop mentioning always that President Obama is the first African-American President? Can we not be like that grade school student who looked at the winner as the present President who will be in charge of the country and will take care of the people.

I'm not discounting all the effort and sweat and tears and sufferings and lives of everyone who worked hard so that there would be equality and everybody's rights will be protected. This is the culmination of their advocacy.

Let's not focus on the colour of the President. This undermines the value of the previous presidents and might have the same effect on the future African-American presidents. Let's acknowledge the winner as the winner because he is the most qualified and the one best suited to hold office. Let's be like a child. Why is he the winner? Because he is the best candidate. Because he has the abilities. Because he has the personality. Because he is the best person for it.

I'm hoping that race, gender, age, and ability will be used as adjectives and not as "classification".