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ILOILO – From January to June this year, the City Health Office (CHO) recorded 97 dengue cases – a 69-percent drop from the 305 cases detected in the first six months of 2016.
According to CHO assistant chief Dr. Mae Delmo, however, the public should not be complacent. Clean the house everyday and destroy the breeding places of dengue mosquitoes, she stressed.
Dengue is caused by day-biting mosquitoes – Aedes egypti and Aedes albopictus – that breed in clear, stagnant water.
Symptoms include fever, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
“Barangay captains, various organizations and even the Iloilo City Police Office are asking if we have larvaecide they can use for cleanup activities. So I am happy because they are the ones look for ways to destroy the breeding places of mosquitoes,” said Delmo.
Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog encouraged residents to continue regular cleanup activities such as the Saturday Do-Day.
Last month, CHO recorded eight dengue cases only – an 85-percent drop from June 2016’s dengue cases that reached 53.
“We are glad with the decrease. It means everybody is cleaning their surroundings,” said Delmo.
Upon the resumption of classes last month, the Department of Health (DOH) encouraged schools in Western Visayas to form “dengue school brigades” to help prevent the outbreak of the disease.
The dengue brigade can help equip students, considered a dengue-vulnerable age group, with more information about dengue transmission, prevention and control, said Maria Lourdes Monegro, DOH regional dengue program coordinator.
The brigade can teach students and even teachers in public and private schools how to prevent and control dengue before it spreads to every household, she added.
Monegro said the students’ main mission is to promote the “4 o’clock habit” in their respective schools and communities.
She also advised the public to continue adapting the “4S” strategy against dengue – search and destroy mosquito breeding places; self-protection measures; seek early consultation for fever lasting more than two days; and say nNo to indiscriminate fogging.
DOH Region 6 reported a 45-percent decrease in dengue cases. It recorded 1,997 cases from January 1 to May 27, 2017 – lower than the 3,636 cases recorded in the same period last year.
The province of Negros Occidental recorded the highest number of dengue cases at 847; followed by Bacolod City with 324; Aklan, 288; Iloilo province, 229; Capiz, 99; Iloilo City, 89; Antique, 88; Guimaras, 7; and others 26. (Iloilo City PIO/PN)
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