Tuesday, August 14, 2007 Health department: No dengue outbreak just yet By Stephen Capillas
A Department of Health (DOH) official said six persons getting afflicted with dengue in Misamis Oriental do not constitute an outbreak.
Dr. David Mendoza, chief of the Regional Epidemiologic Surveillance Unit (RESU), made the clarification amid reports that six persons including children had been infected with the disease in Kinoguitan town, Misamis Oriental.
The DOH-Northern Mindanao recently held a summit on disease prevention attended by local government units (LGUs) in Northern Mindanao.
The Provincial Government last week alerted its health centers in various Misamis Oriental towns to monitor dengue cases in their respective localities.
Misamis Oriental Governor Oscar Moreno ordered the Provincial Health Office to step up preventive measures to reduce dengue incidence in suspected disease "hotspots".
Aside from Kinoguitan, Tagoloan town is also considered another area susceptible to dengue owing to the high number of cases recorded there in 2005.
Tagoloan town officials have coordinated with their health personnel to instruct residents on prevention measures.
Mendoza in a TV interview said even with the Kinoguitan figure, their office could not yet call the situation an outbreak.
"What we can say is there is a high number of dengue cases but no outbreak unless there are confirmed deaths due to dengue," the health official said.
Last 2005, Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental registered the highest number of dengue cases in the country.
Along this line, the DOH-Northern Mindanao undertook efforts to curb the dengue incidence in the city and province.
These included the recent health summit and increased coordination with local media in reporting and verifying dengue cases, said DOH Regional Director Dr. Julito Saburnido.
