Dengue outbreak in Pasay City

MANILA, Philippines - The Pasay City government reported yesterday a dengue outbreak in the city, as the number of cases reached 259, including patients undergoing treatment at the Pasay and San Juan De Dios Hospitals.

The city health department said the number of cases reported from Jan. 1 to Aug. 10 is 70 percent higher compared to the 133 cases reported in the same period last year. At least 53 percent of the victims are younger than 15 years old, and more than half are female.

The San Isidro health center has the highest number of dengue cases at 40, while the Kalayaan health center reported only eight cases, the report added.

City government officials led by Mayor Antonino Calixto and city health officer Dr. Cesar Encinares have initiated various measures, including a cleanup drive, information campaign and coordination with other government and non-government organizations to prevent the spready of dengue.

The city’s epidemiological and surveillance unit also continued active hospital and community surveillance of dengue fever cases; identified high-risk barangays for clustering of cases; the weekly encoding and analysis of data done and submitted weekly line list of dengue fever cases from the four sentinel hospitals to the health centers.

QC sets up dengue express lanes

Meanwhile, the Quezon City health department has set up dengue express lanes in the city’s 61 health centers to provide immediate medical attention to suspected dengue cases.

At least four barangays in District 2, where the most number of dengue cases during the first seven months of the year were reported, are being strictly monitored, according to the city health office.

These are barangays Bagbag, San Bartolome, Commonwealth and Batasan Hills.

City health officer Antonieta Inumerable said there were 173 dengue cases and two deaths reported in Barangay Bagbag from Jan. 1 to Aug. 4 while San Bartolome registered 168 cases and one death during the same period this year.

“Barangay Commonwealth registered the third highest number of dengue cases with 146 cases and two deaths. However, Batasan Hills registered the most number of deaths with three and 146 dengue cases,” Inumerable said.

From Jan. 1 to Aug. 4, the city health department reported about 3,161 dengue cases, which is 146.2 percent higher than the 1,284 cases reported during the same period last year.

To date, the disease has already claimed 25 lives in the city, mostly from urban poor communities in District 2.

The city government has reportedly intensified its dengue prevention efforts by mobilizing city health workers to conduct house-to-house information and education campaign to contain the disease. Supervised space spraying is also being conducted in areas with reported dengue cases.

 Caloocan City Mayor Enrico Echiverri, on the other hand, appealed to residents to maintain cleanliness in their surroundings to help eradicate dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

He also directed members of the city health department as well as village health workers to conduct an information campaign in the city's 188 barangays on how to avoid contracting the disease. – Perseus Echeminada, Rhodina Villanueva, Pete Laude