THE local health officials have further intensified the campaign against dengue in Zamboanga City.
City health officer Rodel Agbulos said the campaign aims at preventing dengue outbreak.
Agbulos said the latest dengue fatality was an eight-month-old baby girl who died Friday in one of the local hospitals in the city.
He added that compared to the 1,029 dengue cases with eight fatalities recorded for the entire 2009, the number of dengue cases have already reached 1,320 with 19 fatalities since January of this year alone, surpassing last year's record by 291 cases in six months.
The city health officer also said they will focus on the information drive in schools in this city's 98 villages to increase public awareness on the measures against dengue. Printed materials like leaflets, billboards, and tarpaulins will be distributed and posted in all the villages. They will also come up with radio and television advertisements against dengue.
Earlier, the City Health Office tapped the assistance of the village officials who head the Committee on Health and Sanitation in the fight against dengue.
Agbulos reiterated his call to the public to avoid storing stagnant water in their communities since it is the breeding ground of the dengue carrier mosquito . (Bong Garcia)