Dengue claims another life in Barangay Pajo

CEBU, Philippines – Feeling discomfort and pain in the ears, Grade 4 pupil Aña Grace Anino was rushed to the hospital on Friday. Just one day after, she succumbed to dengue.

Anino, 9, who attended Pajo Elementary School in Lapu-Lapu City, is the second child to have died of dengue in their barangay. She was laid to rest yesterday afternoon at the Mactan Island Memorial Garden in Barangay Marigondon.

Her grieving parents, Edna and Roy, declined to grant media interview yesterday.

But an aunt, Rafaela, told The FREEMAN that the family did not know the child had been battling the dengue virus until the doctor at Mactan Doctors' Hospital found out she was low on platelet count Friday.

“Nagsakit man daw iyahang dunggan, maong gidala na lang sa iyahang mama sa ospital unya gipa-check up kung naunsa iyahang dunggan. Then gipa-CBC (complete blood count) ug urinalysis unya didto nibaw-an nga low man siya og platelet,” Rafaela said.

Collective effort

According to the data gathered by the Lapu-Lapu City Health Office from January to November this year, 399 cases of dengue have been reported. The figure is higher compared to 238 cases logged in the same period last year.

Gellie Patalinghug, 13, also a resident of Barangay Pajo, also succumbed to the disease last November 23 at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City where she was brought after suffering from bleeding gums.

Doctor Rodolfo Berame of the CHO advised all the the schools, including the residents in every barangay, to regularly clean their surroundings to shoo away mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus.

He said he is strongly urging residents to take part in dengue prevention, and not merely rely on the government to conduct anti-dengue campaigns.

“Kaning dengue prevention and control, di ra man ni sa City Health lang, entire community man ni. Dapat ang tanang lumulupyo motabang og sulbad ani. Giawhag nako ang tanan nga magtinabangay ta kay community participation baya ni,” Berame said.

In their recent visit to Sitio New Paradise in Barangay Pajo, for example, Berame said they found residents playing cards, instead of cleaning their surroundings.

“Ang mga tawo ngadto sige lang og chika, tong- its, unya moingon dayon 'Sir puwede ninyo apilon og limpyo ilawom sa among balay?' Imagine ha, kami palimpyuhon sa ilang hugaw,” he said.

Berame, who inspected the barangay's sitios recently together with Barangay Captain Junard Chan, suspected that Aña may possibly got the dengue virus at the school's premises, noting that there was a dirty area in there.

He then advised Pajo Elementary School and High School officials to clean their areas after receiving reports that these places were not clean.

Chan, for his part, assured that they will continue their anti-dengue misting operations in the barangay.

Symptoms

The dengue virus is transmitted by the bite of an infected Aedes Egypti mosquito. The mosquito becomes infected when it bites a person with dengue virus in his blood. The infection is not spread directly from person to person.

As previously reported in this paper, dengue symptoms may include sudden high fever, severe headaches, pain behind the eyes, severe joint and muscle pains, nausea, vomiting, skin rash which appears three to four days after the onset of fever, and mild bleeding such as nose bleed, bleeding gums, or easy bruising. These symptoms normally appear or are felt beginning four to six days after infection and may last up to 10 days. (FREEMAN)