Thursday, September 27, 2007 State of calamity in Pardo, Bulacao
A STATE of calamity was declared in Barangays Pardo and Bulacao in Cebu City because of the rising number of dengue cases in the area and the recent declaration of a dengue outbreak there.
The Cebu City Council also authorized the use of the calamity funds for the preventive and contingency measures in the area, and for financial assistance to dengue patients in the two barangays.
From Jan. 1 to Sept. 19, the Cebu City Health Department recorded a total of 996 cases of dengue with 24 deaths, or an increase of 77 percent compared to the same period last year.
There were 562 cases in the same period last year with 15 deaths.
The case fatality rate this year, though, is lower at 2.41 percent, which means that two of 100 cases result in death, compared with last year’s three out of every 100 cases.
Dengue cases in the region increased by almost 50 percent this year, compared with last year.
Peak
So far this year, government hospitals all over Central Visayas already recorded 3,216 dengue patients.
This is 1,008 more than last year’s record or 45.6 percent higher.
Department of Health 7 continues to advocate for the four “S” against dengue: search and destroy mosquito breeding places, self-protection measures, seek early treatment and say no to indiscriminate fogging.
Mandaue City Health Officer Oscar Quirante said we are now at the peak season of dengue outbreak, which is August and September. With the cold spell coming in, the situation could worsen, he said.
As of Sept. 14, Mandaue already recorded a total of 307 cases. Barangay Banilad is now leading in the number of cases. The entire 2006 Mandaue had a total of 395 dengue cases.
Quirante said it used to be Barangay Mantuyong leading, when the city was declared a calamity area. But now Mantuyong is second, followed by Maguikay.
Quirante and his entomological team visited yesterday the house of nine-year-old Duchess Jahara Obenza, who died of dengue, and her school, Jewels Christian Learning Center, both in Paknaan. They destroyed breeding sites of mosquitoes during their visit.
Duchess, the ninth person to die of dengue in Mandaue, was the youngest daughter of Senior Supt. Anthony Obenza, deputy chief of police community relations at PNP Regional Office (PRO) 7, and the niece of Mandaue City Hospital Chief Dr. Dominga Obenza.
Free
Obenza earlier said that from Sept. 16 to 22, they had 12 admissions at the city hospital coming from different places in Mandaue.
She admitted that there are some dengue patients who are taken to Cebu City hospitals, like her niece. This means that it is possible that the actual number of cases is higher than their admission rate.
Obenza said the city hospital is now giving free CBC-platelet examination to all suspected dengue patients.
During their session yesterday, the Cebu City Council passed a resolution declaring a state of calamity in Pardo and Bulacao, where at least 30 dengue cases were recorded in each barangay in less than a month.
There were three deaths in Bulacao and another three in Pardo in the same period.
“A declaration of a state of calamity is deemed necessary for the release of calamity funds to augment local funds that will be used for the preventive and contingency measures of the City Government as well as for extending immediate assistance to patients and victims infected with the dengue virus,” their resolution read.
The council also invited officials of the Department of Health, City Health Department and the Cebu City Medical Center to attend their session on Wednesday to brief them on the different types of dengue infection and what can be done to counter the disease.
The invitation was proposed after the death of a police official’s daughter alarmed them.
The daughter of Senior Supt. Obenza was infected with a rather aggressive strain of the dengue virus, whose symptoms are more severe than other types of dengue.
Assistant City Epidemiologist Durinda Macasocol warned the public against this strain, which most people are not immune to.
Sudden death
She explained that because of modernization, the two types of dengue-carrying mosquitoes, aedis egypti and aedis albopectus, are now present in urban areas.
“Almost all types of the dengue virus are present in the city. We may all be immune to one type because of a previous infection, which we might not have been aware of. But once re-infection sets in and we’re infected with another type of virus that we are not immune to, the symptoms will be more severe and it will be deadlier,” Macasocol told Sun.Star Cebu.
While the first infection can cause high grade fever for a longer period, re-infection will result in low-grade fever for a shorter period, which may lead to sudden death.
For her part, City Health Department Chief Fe Cabugao does not believe the state of calamity will prevent the spread of dengue.
In an interview at City Hall yesterday, Cabugao said the public should exert more effort in eliminating breeding sites of dengue-carrying mosquitoes. Residents of areas where dengue cases were recorded should also wear protective clothes at all times, like long pants and long-sleeved shirts. (LCR/OCP/With JGA)
