Fewer dengue cases in the province this year

CEBU, Philippines - The Integrated Provincial Health Office recorded only five dengue-related deaths this year compared to 39 recorded last year.

IPHO chief Doctor Christina Giango said Cebu had the least number of fatalities this year compared to previous years. The highest, which reached 80 deaths, was recorded in 2007.

IPHO also noted a much bigger decline of frequency of dengue cases this year compared to last.

Last year, there were 3,150 dengue-related cases recorded, while only 1,279 were recorded this year based on the IPHO figures shown by Giango to the media.

In 2010, Minglanilla got the most number of cases with 288 cases recorded while Danao City, which was fifth last year, tops the list this year with 163 cases.

Minglanilla is the third to have the most cases province-wide.

For the least in the number of cases, both Madridejos and Santa Fe have two cases each.

Pilar and Tudela got only one case this year while Santa Fe has two cases.

Giango said they attributed the remarkable decrease to Governor Gwendolyn Garcia’s cleanliness and sanitation program.

Municipal officials of Liloan said the program had a great impact on the residents.

“Naminos ang dengue kay ang mga tawo manglimpyo na kada kadlawon,” Giango said.

In Liloan, the said officials initiated a purok cleaning system wherein a member of each purok has respective schedules to clean their own puroks starting last Saturday.

Giango said majority of the cases for every town and city decreased this year. (FREEMAN)