Protect students from Zika, DepEd tells school officials

Education Secretary Leonor Briones has urged schools nationwide to support the Department of Health’s anti-Zika campaign and take steps to lower the chances of students getting infected.

In a memorandum, Briones said, “In the face of alarming developments, the Department of Education (DepEd) deems it urgent to address the Zika virus infection through the dissemination of information and coordination with health authorities for vector control measures in and around schools.”

Briones reiterated a 2009 DepEd memorandum on “preventing dengue H (hemorrhagic) fever in schools” and other previous issuances “to protect the school populace from the day bites of the Aedes aegypti mosquito which proliferates at a fast rate during the rainy days.”

The 2009 memorandum enjoined all school officials to mobilize all personnel to spread information on the prevention and control of mosquito-borne illnesses.

“The key to Zika prevention is heightened vigilance and stronger community efforts of every household for vector control,” said Briones, citing the DOH’s coordination with local governments to enhance mosquito control efforts, including fogging, destruction of mosquito breeding sites and precautions to be observed.

The simplest vector control measure that schools and the community can take is removing standing or collected water that can serve as mosquito breeding sites.