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Saturday, October 01, 2005
Dengue cases now double
Despite the anti-dengue campaign in the barangays, the number of dengue fever cases recorded in Cebu City this year has reached 1,150, almost double the number of last year’s cases.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña admitted the City’s failure to stop the spread of the dengue virus.
“This is one of the most frustrating problems that I have as a mayor, and people think they need education about dengue,” Osmeña said in an interview with ABS-CBN TV Patrol.
According to the City Health Department’s records, 1,150 persons were infected with dengue from Jan. 1 to Sept. 27 this year.
A total of 29 deaths were recorded.
A rising menace
In the same period last year, 614 cases and five deaths were recorded.
Dengue cases continue to increase despite a simultaneous environmental sanitation and anti-dengue information drive by the City Government.
At the Guadalupe Sports Complex yesterday, Mayor Osmeña helped inform Guadalupe barangay officials and residents on how to effectively eliminate the breeding sites of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
Osmeña yesterday encouraged residents to rely on used engine oil in preventing mosquitoes from breeding in stagnant water.
Banawa and Guadalupe recorded the highest number of dengue cases in the city, with 101 and 82 cases, respectively.
Although the mayor called the anti-dengue campaign a failure, an official of the City Health Department said dengue cases in the two barangays no longer increased, following their information drive.
“In Banawa and Guadalupe, the number of cases continued to increase despite their spraying activities, but since we asked them to stop spraying two weeks ago and told them to just focus on environmental survey, wala na nisaka,” Dr. Daisy Villa, dengue coordinator of the City Health Department, told Sun.Star Cebu.
Dr. Villa also said the City Health Office will no longer conduct spraying activities in the barangays, unless there is a case recorded in the locality.
Clean up
Instead of relying on anti-dengue chemicals, Villa said the residents should identify and eliminate the breeding sites of mosquitoes in their surroundings.
“Spraying should be done only as a last recourse. It’s effective only during an outbreak,” Villa said.
Officers of the Rotary Club distributed posters on the “pito-pito” habit, or seven ways on how to prevent contracting the dengue virus.
The campaign emphasized environmental sanitation as the most effective way of preventing the spread of the virus.
During the launch of the Rotary Club campaign yesterday, Villa also reminded the public of the symptoms of dengue, which include high grade fever, headache, vomiting, abdominal pains and skin rashes. (LCR/With AIV)
(October 1, 2005 issue)
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