EDITORIAL — Never something we should underestimate

The good news is that the number of dengue cases in Cebu City dropped since the end of September, but the bad news is that by the end of November a total of 21 people have also died from dengue this year.

According to a report from the Cebu City Health Department, the first two deaths happened last March, followed by another two each in the months of June and July. August saw a dramatic rise with seven deaths while four more people died of it in September, three more in October, and one in November.

That’s 21 people too many, 21 people who didn’t live to see another Christmas.

Dengue becomes more prevalent during the rainy season when water collects in places we least expect them to, and these places become breeding grounds for mosquitoes that carry the dengue virus.

It is also worth mentioning that we inadvertently aid in this with our bad habit of leaving a lot of our trash everywhere, and a lot of trash like old wheels, cans, jars --practically anything that can retain even a little bit of water-- left lying around collects water to become such breeding places.

It also doesn’t help that many of us don’t really bother cleaning up nearby environs, figuring it’s someone else’s problem, someone else’s task.

But when mosquitoes fly and bite, they don’t really limit themselves to the area where they were born, they spread far and wide in search of warm blood, and they also don’t discriminate between those who don’t throw trash and those who don’t keep tidy surroundings and those who do.

While the thought of celebrating the season may be first and foremost on everyone’s minds, we should also be mindful of the dangers that come with the season. Because, as 21 deaths so far this year can attest to, the dengue virus is never something we should underestimate.