Wednesday, October 03, 2007 No more dengue outbreak areas, just hotspots
BARANGAYS Bulacao and Pardo in Cebu City are no longer dengue outbreak areas but eight barangays remain in the list of dengue hotspots.
Assistant City Epidemiologist Durinda Macasocol said yesterday that dengue cases in Bulacao and Pardo have been managed and these areas were reclassified as hotspots.
Other hotspot areas are Barangays Labangon, Lahug, Punta Princesa, Guadalupe and Banawa.
Barangay Luz was also declared a hotspot after one of its residents died last Sunday due to dengue, bringing to 1,000 the total number of dengue cases as of Sept. 30.
Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal is also urging the Catholic faithful to implement preventive measures to stop dengue, which has claimed 25 lives in Cebu City since January.
“We should also use all means to stop the fever from going on and on. Apply medication at once. And we have to clean around,” he told Sun.Star Cebu after celebrating mass in honor of Our Lady of Peñafrancia at the Sacred Heart Capitol Parish Sunday night.
Vidal last week coordinated with the Council of the Laity to clean up the grounds of the parishes and their neighboring streets.
Cristina Joy Aquillon, 5, of Sitio Zapatera in Barangay Luz died last Sunday and was recorded as the 25th fatality since Jan. 1.
“Luz was classified as a hotspot, and so were Bulacao and Pardo. The dengue cases in Bulacao and Pardo are now under control, that is why they were reclassified from outbreak areas to hotspots,” Macasocol told Sun.Star Cebu.
An outbreak is declared in areas that have six or more dengue cases in a week while dengue hotspots are those that have three or more cases a week.
Mist spraying of larvaecides is conducted in hotspot areas and other places where a dengue case is recorded.
Although the increase in the number of dengue cases in the city has slowed down, Macasocol urged the public to continue to search and destroy breeding sites of mosquitoes such as used bottles and old tires where stagnant water accumulate.
Immediate consultation at the onset of fever, weakness and other symptoms of dengue is also encouraged for early detection of the dengue virus.
She also reminded the public of the need for self-protection by wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants to keep dengue-carrying mosquitoes away.
While communities hit by dengue request for fogging, Macasocol said this may be done only in outbreak areas. (LCR)
