DENGUE cases in Bacolod City have increased by 107 percent from January to April 6 this year, compared to the same period last year, City Health Office (CHO) records showed.

Dr. Grace Tan, head of the CHO Environment Sanitation Division, said that they listed 400 cases with one death from January to April 6 compared to 190 cases in 2018 with three deaths.

Of the 400 cases, Barangay Estefania has the highest number of cases with 39, followed by Barangay Taculing with 29 cases; Barangay Pahanocoy, 28; Barangay Tangub, 26; Barangay Handumanan, 25; Barangay Mansilingan, 24; Barangay Granada, 23; Barangays Singcang-Airport, Mandalagan and Alijis with 22 cases each; Barangay Villamonte, 21; Barangay Bata, 16; Barangay Sum-ag, 15; and Barangay Banago, 13.

This year, the first fatality was the 13-year old boy from Barangay Handumanan who expired in January.

Tan said that dengue is not just an illness during rainy months, but also in summer period because most of the households still store water inside their houses.

She said the area with stored water for almost five days will become breeding grounds of mosquitoes.

“We should always clean our surroundings because a dengue incident increases not only on rainy months but also during summer,” she added.

Tan urged the public to practice the 4S program of the Department of Health which stands for search and destroy mosquito breeding places; use self-protection measures; seek early consultation for fever lasting more than two days; and say no to indiscriminate fogging.