In Barangay Toong:City Health to declare dengue outbreak

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Health Department is eyeing to declare dengue outbreak in Barangay Toong, a mountain area in the city.

Dr. Daisy Villa, city health officer, said there are two dengue cases in Barangay Toong this year but there were no dengue cases for the past three years.

“Makig-istorya pako sa Department of Health kay sa among department, ma-consider gyud ang Toong og outbreak or epidemic kay naa man gud patay last month,” she told The FREEMAN.

Dengue has afflicted 1,166 people with 11 deaths in Cebu City from January 1 to August 3, which is an increase of 22 percent on the same period last year.

Villa said the office has already implemented anti-dengue activities like spraying and misting to drive away dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

She said she will ask officials of the city as she will report the cases in its meeting today.

Today, Vice Mayor Michael Rama will meet the concerned offices to discuss the dengue cases in the city.

Rama said there is already a template in addressing the concerns especially in destroying dengue breeding sites.

He said all 80 barangays in the city will soon be asked to report on the status of their respective barangays to the City Council so the city can prepare its actions.

According to the Cebu City Health Department’s City Epidemiology Surveillance and Statistics Unit, there are four deaths in the month of July due to severe dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever.

The 11 fatalities are from Barangays Guadalupe (2), Lahug (1), Tisa (1), Kalunasan (1), Duljo (1), Suba (1), Kinasang-an (1), Sapangdaku (1), Bulacao (1), and Toong (1).

Dengue is seen as the fastest spreading mosquito-borne disease in the country that is why the Department of Health has already declared a national dengue epidemic in the Philippines.

The CHD has noted an increase of 22 percent of dengue cases from the same period last year with 956 cases and seven deaths.

Of the 1,166 people, 608 were male, while there were 558 females.

The top ten Barangays with the most number of dengue cases include Guadalupe (104), Lahug (69), Tisa (49), Labangon (42), Basak san Nicolas (40) Apas (38), Talamban (36), Mambaling (35), Pardo and Kalunasan with (34 each) and Kamputhaw (33).

Mayor Edgardo Labella has already directed the CHD to monitor and conduct all measures that will prevent the further increase of dengue cases in the city.

“With the rise of dengue cases in Cebu City this year, I am requiring your office to submit a monitoring report of all dengue cases in the city twice a month to the Office of the Mayor,” read a portion of Labella’s letter.

The mayor also asked for a comparative analysis of the cases in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

As it is the first time that DOH declared a national epidemic, the DOH-7 has put up insecticide-treated nets in some schools in Cebu for free in hopes of killing dengue carrying mosquitoes.

DOH-7 Director Dr. Jaime Bernadas said the young and those particularly in schools have more exposure to dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

"From 6-9am to 3-6pm mao nay ting gawas sa mga lamok, mao sad ang mga student sa eskwelahan," Bernadas said.

Bernadas said they intend to put the nets in all schools in the region. They would prioritize those areas who have higher dengue incidence.

The Insecticide-Treated Nets are safe to use and its concentration level is below and acceptable by the Food and Drugs (FDA).

It can last three to five years, depending on the exposure to sunlight and rain, but it’s a reusable and can be soaked to the chemical again. — Jed Ondiano/GAN (FREEMAN)