Prayer to help fight dengue: Cardinal eyes oratio imperata

CEBU, Philippines – On top of all human efforts to help stave off the dreaded dengue fever, the church is also going for Divine intervention as the Archbishop of Cebu is planning to issue an oratio imperata, a prayer for the fight against the disease.

Ricardo Cardinal Vidal said over TV Patrol Central Visayas at ABS-CBN yesterday that he is ready to issue the oratio imperata, which will be prayed in all masses that will be celebrated in the archdiocese.

The Cardinal said that he is taking the move since he is already alarmed by the increasing number of cases.

The church also had similar prayers during the threat of the avian flu last year.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is also taking an active role in the fight against dengue.

About a hundred personnel from the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) yesterday took part in a clean up activity in barangay Kamputhaw.

Sr. Supt. Melvin Ramon Buenafe, director of the CCPO, said that they are doing the activity to help the barangay, where their headquarters is located.

The policemen cleaned the area around the Kamputhaw Elementary School.

"We like to be partners of the community in this endeavor," Buenafe said.

Buenafe said this clean up drive, dubbed as Cebu City Police Office - Kontra Dengue, was also one of their activities in the observance of the National Crime Preven-tion Week which concluded on the same day.

"Ang police ang isa sa mga kinukuhaan ng dugo (for dengue patients). If we can do that, why also participate to prevent dengue?"

Private Sector Support

A company that manufactures mosquito repellents and insect spray is also helping in the efforts of the Cebu City government.

The Iwas Dengue spraying operation and education campaign was held in barangay Pahina Central.

Pahina Central is one of the 26 barangays in the city that the Iwas Dengue team of S.C. Johnson and Son will visit for the next two weeks to spray insecticide in dark areas of the households where dengue-carrying mosquitoes love to dwell.

Some 11,700 households will be visited for a free spray.

S.C. Johnson and Son has been doing this for the past 12 years and has already covered about 1 million households across the country.

They specifically included Cebu City after it recorded a breaking record of more than 1000 cases as of August this year.

Daez said that their line is open for other Local Government Units that would need their help in spraying operation and education caravan but he said that they respond based on urgency of the operation in an area.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said that the city government is preparing for the worst.

Should an outbreak of dengue occur in the city, he said that he has instructed the Crisis Management Team and all departments involved to prepare everything that would be needed as early as now.

Another Fatality

A five-year-old girl from barangay Ermita died of the disease last September 1, two days after she was brought to a private hospital.

The victim was identified as Larajane Blanco.

She was brought to Chong Hua Hospital by her parents last August 30 due to high fever but died two days later.

Durinda Macasocol, the assistant head of the Cebu City Health's Epidemiology Statistics and Surveillance Unit, said as of August 31 the total number of dengue cases in the city had already reached 1,424.

Although the dengue cases in Cebu City is much higher this year compared to only 1,009 in 2009, but during the same period last year there were 22 dengue-related deaths.

Macasocol believes that the reason why the number of dengue cases went up this year is because of their advocacy that encouraged the public to quickly approach the health centers or hospital once they experience fever.

When asked about the reported epidemic proportion of dengue cases in barangays Labangon and Guadalupe, Macasocol said the public should not worry about it be-cause the two barangays have huge areas.

The city health department's statistics showed that Guadalupe has 113 dengue cases reported, while Labangon has also 93. But there are no dengue-related deaths in the two barangays.

"Dili ta angay'ng mahadlok ana kay pirmi man nga taas ang dengue cases anang maong mga barangay tungod kay daghan man usab kaayo kini og mga tawo nga nag-puyo," Macasocol explained.

Meanwhile, Macasocol has alerted the officials and residents of barangays Tisa, Talamban, Punta Princesa, Mambaling, Mabolo, Lahug and Apas because these areas have clustered cases of dengue.

DOH regional director Susana Madarieta belied reports that the aedes aegepti mosquitoes that transmit dengue virus will not bite on daytime.

There were reports that these kinds of mosquitoes will only bites within two hours after sunrise and two hours before the sunset.

Meanwhile, there were at least 270 patients brought to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center during a one-week period from September 1. Five of them died.

These patients, whose ages range from nine months old to 35 years old, mostly minors, are from the different provinces of Cebu, including Cebu City.

There were two girls, aged two and five from Lapu-Lapu City, who died of Dengue Shock Syndrome.

One patient each from the city of Mandaue and the municipalities of Badian and Sibonga also died. - with Rene U. Borromeo and Jessica Ann R. Pareja/NLQ (FREEMAN)