HEALTH and barangay officials are alarmed at the number of dengue cases in Sirao, a mountain barangay in Cebu City.
The Cebu City Health Department has recorded six confirmed cases of dengue in the barangay.
They are confined at the Cebu City Medical Center.
In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu, City Epidemiologist Dr. Dorinda Macasocol said they are particularly worried since Sirao has a small population. (The barangay reportedly has a population of 4,000.)
She said the youngest victim they recorded in the barangay is one year and eight months, while the oldest is 33 years old.
Meanwhile, Sirao Barangay Captain Felix Limotan said that he, too, was shocked at the number of dengue cases in the barangay.
“I don’t know why the number is so high. I make sure the surroundings of the barangays are always clean,” he said in Cebuano.
Search and destroy
Limotan said the dengue cases are concentrated in Sitio Santol.
However, he said he, barangay officials and health officials have been conducting anti-dengue brigades in the area such as searching for and destroying all mosquito breeding sites.
“I don’t understand why there are still dengue cases there,” he said.
The health department has recorded 342 dengue cases in the whole of Cebu City, with six fatalities, since January.
The last recorded death was that of a three-year-old girl from Barangay Mabolo on March 1.
Macasocol said residents should be aware of dengue, particularly the practice of proper sanitation in order to combat the disease, which victimizes both rich and poor.
She reminded residents to clean inside their homes as mosquito eggs also thrive in water in flower vases and collected bottles.