Patients urged to get free dengue lab test

CEBU, Philippines - Health officials in Mandaue City have advised suspected dengue patients to immediately go to their office for a free laboratory test to avoid further complications.

“Di na ta maghuwat og three days. Kung naa na gani hilanat ug signs sa dengue, dagan dayon sa main office sa City Health para maka-avail og lab test. Seek consultation at once,” said Dr. Edna Seno, city health officer.

Seno explained that the unpredictability of the weather has caused “the strain of the dengue virus to evolve.” Hence, the three-day period, which is the normal duration for fever patients to wait before seeking medical help, is already cut short, she said.

She said a whole day of fever is enough to cause alarm, especially if the patient also has rashes and other signs of dengue.

The city health chief said this advice should be taken more seriously if the patient is a child, as young people are “more vulnerable” to dehydration, the subsequent result of dengue fever.

The CHO has an express line for laboratory test where patients can have their blood samples taken.

Seno said if there are already signs of bleeding, they will immediately send the patient to the hospital for treatment.

Local health centers, she said, are also giving free oral rehydration salts and medicine for fever.

Records at the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of the Department of Health-7 show at as of October 3 this year, Mandaue City is among the 10 local government units in Central Visayas with the most number of recorded dengue cases.

Mandaue ranks seventh so far with 181 cases and two recorded deaths. In the same period last year, it was on the 16th place.

Seno said they expected the number to still go higher by end of the year, especially that there are already reports of other cases in the different barangays.

She said being “endemic” in the Philippines as a whole, the dengue disease will easily spread in areas where there are pools of water.

Hence, she said her office has been rounding up the city barangays to constantly urge people to clean up their surroundings and their homes.

She said personal hygiene and proper nutrition can also help prevent residents from contracting the sickness.

“If everybody would just do that, it can do so much,” Seno said.  — Liv G. Campo (FREEMAN)