Sunday, August 12, 2007 Barangay Mantuyong, Mandaue next on DOH outbreak list?
THE Department of Health (DOH) 7 might declare a dengue outbreak in Barangay Mantuyong, Mandaue City if the situation there doesn’t improve.
It learned that the City Council disapproved the City Disaster Coordinating Council’s (CDCC) request for P220,000 to be taken out of the calamity funds to fight the disease.
Mandaue City Hospital head Dr. Dominga Obenza’s “emergency request” for hospital and laboratory supplies in response to rising admission of dengue patients was also rejected.
With Obenza’s letter was the dengue update report of the City Health Office, which showed an increase this year of dengue cases.
The council, in turning down the doctor’s request, said there was no basis for it since there was no declaration of a state of calamity.
Dr. Expedito Medalla, head of DOH 7’s Health Emergency Management Services, said they will consider these recent developments.
He said if the situation in Mantuyong hasn’t changed since Aug. 1 when DOH 7 inspected the area, they will recommend the declaration of an outbreak.
Preemptive action
But Medalla said he will confer first with Mandaue City Health Officer Oscar Quirante.
Medalla admitted that Mandaue City was already considered a hot spot for dengue before this month.
“But they are acting on the situation as if it is an outbreak,” he said, explaining that the heightened reaction is to preempt the problem from growing and to anticipate a worst-case scenario.
He cited two conditions for declaring an outbreak: an increase in number of incidents at a short duration and higher figures compared to previous records.
DOH 7 Director Susana Madarieta and Rennan Cimafranca, regional coordinator of Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, inspected Mantuyong last Aug. 1.
Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna and council presiding officer told the council in last Wednes-day’s session that emergency purchases can only be justified if there is a calamity, recommended by DOH, which, until now, there has been none.
Even the health office, according to the committee report, saw no reason to declare an outbreak or an epidemic.
Conflicting data
The report of councilor Emilio Rosal, committee on appropriation, budget and finance chairman, supported this view, as it did not find any reason to spend much for disaster preparedness.
It had learned from Quirante that “dengue cases have not reached serious level to declare a state of calamity” and that the City still has “sufficient supplies to suppress dengue cases.”
The committee also found the CDCC request to buy tools and equipment to clear waterways as unnecessary since the job is a local government unit’s normal function.
The council finally agreed that they may approve all these items, related to dengue, as part of regular purchases and include these in the next supplemental budget.
The Dengue Fever Update, however, tells a different story.
It states that dengue cases broke out in Mantuyong last June 25.
“...Within the span of six weeks it increased to 30 cases with four deaths, which represented 23 percent of the total cases in Mandaue City. Compared last year it only had a total of three cases with no deaths.”
The update also states that as of July 30, 130 dengue patients in Mandaue City were admitted in hospitals; half of them were children. (OCP)
