|
23 Dengue Deaths in 5 Provinces Alarm Health Execs
At least 23 people, most of them children, have died of dengue fever in Cagayan Valley, Zamboanga City and Bicol region since January this year, reports from the Department of Health showed.
Health officials in Zamboanga City said the situation has become a cause for alarm.
Rodelin Agbulos, Zamboanga health officer, said at least 1,052 others had fallen ill due to the mosquito-borne disease since the start of the year.
“It has reached the alert level in Western Mindanao. The number of deaths is higher compared to 2008, during which we declared a dengue outbreak with eight deaths,” Agbulos said.
In Cagayan Valley, DOH officials have asked residents in the region to be vigilant to protect their families from mosquito-borne diseases, especially dengue, this rainy season.
DOH personnel have been sent to various parts of the region to conduct information campaign to prevent dengue fever as the agency reported six dengue deaths and 336 cases from January to June this year, said Floro Orata, regional DOH information officer.
He said dengue fever-related deaths were reported in Lasam, Santa Ana and Claveria towns in Cagayan and in Ilagan in Isabela, Diadi in Nueva Vizcaya and Maddela in Quirino.
He said the number of cases this year was lower than the January to June period last year, which recorded 442 cases and five deaths.
Dirty water
Agbulos said that in Zamboanga City, dengue cases were prevalent in the villages of Santa Maria, Tumaga, San Roque, Tetuan, Baliwasan, San Jose Gusu, Guiwan, Upper Calarian, Campo Islam and Putik.
Aside from coping with the rising number of dengue patients, Agbulos said health workers also face cholera cases in Vitali and Lunzuran villages.
Two girls, aged five months and 4 years old, died of the disease while 30 others had been hospitalized since Monday, he said.
“They drank water from water wells that have E. coli bacteria, but this has already been properly addressed and the water has been chlorinated,” Agbulos said.
In Albay, health authorities have expressed alarm over the recorded 364 dengue cases in the province from January to June this year, more than ten times the 35 cases posted during the same period last year.
Dr. Luis Mendoza, Albay provincial health officer, however, reported only one casualty for this year.
“In 2009, there were four casualties due to dengue,” Mendoza said.
He said that of the 364 cases, 168 were reported in Legazpi City, while Daraga had 97 and Tabaco, 44.
Albay health officials say water shortage compels households to store water, leading to water-borne risks.
Based on the team’s investigation, common breeding sites of mosquitoes were old pump boats, bamboo posts, old motorcycle tires, shells and vegetation growth, the provincial health office (PHO) report said.
Negros Occidental health officials have started a clean up drive in the wake of an almost 300 percent rise in dengue cases in the province.
A PHO report showed 1,098 dengue cases in Negros Occidental from January 1 to July 10 this year, with six dengue deaths reported in Himamaylan City, Bago City, Murcia and Sipalay City.
Clean up
Community-based groups and residents were asked to remove or clean up all possible breeding places of the Aedes aegypti, the day-breeding mosquito that causes dengue fever, to avert a further spread of the dreaded disease.
In Capiz, the number of dengue fever cases has reached 1,006 with 8 deaths, said Eyr Altavas, officer in charge of the Capiz Epidemiological Surveillance and Response Unit (CESRU) of the Capiz Integrated Provincial Health Office.
Altavas said Roxas City had the most number of dengue fever cases with 292 afflicted persons and three deaths.
For June alone, the city has recorded 96 dengue fever cases with two deaths.
The other areas with dengue fever cases included the towns of Pontevedra and Dao, each with 82 cases, Dumalag, Pilar, President Roxas, Cuartero, Panay, Maayon, Mambusao, Panitan, Jamindan, Sigma, Dumarao, Ivisan, Tapaz, and Sapian.
Health Assistant Secretary Maria Bernardita Flores said people should make sure their surroundings are clean and that breeding areas of mosquitoes—stagnant water in flower vases, uncovered barrels, buckets and discarded tires, wet shower floors, toilet tanks—should be removed.
Orata said people may wear long-sleeved clothes and pants when outdoors, use insect repellant and mosquito nets to avoid getting insect bites.
According to research, among the symptoms of dengue fever are high fever, rash, severe headache and muscle and joint pains.
Source
Related Posts
|
