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To avert the aggravating dengue problem, a broader program of mosquito control should be used by targeting all the life stages of the mosquito starting from mating disruption to killing the adult mosquitoes using integrated means of control methods. The most common methods used in controlling mosquitoes in the Philippines are fumigation and reduction of breeding places such as discarded tires and stagnant ground water.
Larviciding as a means of mosquito control is not a popular term in the Philippines, hence, not a popular means of controlling mosquitoes. Though mosquito larvae or wrigglers can be greatly exterminated by means of breeding site reduction, some breeding places can not plainly be eliminated straightforwardly which calls for the introduction of larvicide to eliminate the immature mosquitoes. Larvicidal substances can be chemicals sprayed or introduced in the breeding areas to kill the wrigglers or kill the eggs of the mosquitoes, and they come in different forms. In other countries, larvicides are in the form of liquid sprays, dunks, tablets, granules and powders. The prospect of developing and using larvicides presents a potential means of controlling mosquitoes that can be adopted by the Filipino community.
Researchers in other countries have undertaken the screening of extracts from different plant species for larvicidal activity. Several plant species have been screened for their larvicidal potentials against the mosquito larvae. Some of these plants include the extracts from neem tree, atis, ginger, garlic, mint plants, citrus peelings and lagundi.
Mosquito control by means of larvicide from plant extracts in the Philippines has a high prospect for use as a means of combating the dengue problem because of the country’s natural abundance and diversity of plant species.
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