Dengue cases in Misamis Oriental up in 2012

DENGUE cases in Misamis Oriental in 2012 have surged to 1,356 with 21 deaths, according to the Provincial Health Office.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Ignacio Moreno attributed the increase to the improvement of their own case finding through their sentinel site where dengue cases are now recorded.

“Because there were unreported dengue cases before, so gamay ra ang recorded figure,” Moreno told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.

He said the poor health habits of residents are among the factors that dengue cases in the province surged.

According to Moreno, there are residents who until now refused to clean their surroundings.

“Magsalig ra sa himoon nga clean-up drive sa gobyerno which is dili puwede kinahanglan sila mismo molihok,” he said.

In 2012, the town of Jasaan has the highest number of dengue cases with 188, one of whom died, followed by Tagoloan with 136 cases with two deaths, Opol town with 140 cases with three deaths, and Gingoog City with 137 cases with four deaths.

The Provincial Health Office noticed that most dengue cases are in a densely populated area.

“Jasaan and Tagoloan have the highest dengue cases owing to their environment, especially since they have junk yards that are hard to clean,” Moreno said.

With this, he expressed apprehension that dengue cases may rise this year since the disease is no longer seasonal but occurs whole year round due to the unstable weather condition.