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Roxas City Declares Dengue Outbreak
ROXAS CITY—The city council here has declared an outbreak of dengue fever in the city in the wake of the rising number of cases that has reached 444, with five deaths, since January until Aug. 7.
The council held a special session on Saturday, upon the request of Mayor Angel Alan Celino, just to declare the outbreak.
Celino said the Department of Health (DoH) considers dengue cases here to have reached epidemic proportions, and cited the many cases especially in the villages of Lawaan and Banica.
The number of cases in the city alone already surpassed some 300 dengue cases recorded for the whole province of Capiz in 2009.
From January to July, the dengue cases in Capiz have surged to 1,535 with 12 deaths.
The provincial government led by Gov. Victor Tanco Sr. has earlier declared Capiz under a state of calamity on Aug. 2.
The provincial board agreed that 7.5 percent of the total unexpended five percent calamity fund for 2010 will be used for dengue control and to help indigent dengue patients.
Dr. Esperanza Gepelano, acting city health officer, said a composite team has been formed to destroy the breeding places of dengue-carrying mosquitoes, the Aedes egypti and Aedes albopictus. These are day-biting mosquitoes that breed in clear, stagnant waters, she said.
The composite team is made up of city and barangay officials, the DOH, City Engineer’s Office, police, Bureau of Fire Protection, non-governmental organizations, and other volunteers.
The composite team will inspect clean-up activities in the affected villages and undertake misting or fogging if needed.
The DoH only recommends fogging during outbreaks or epidemics, which shall be carried out only under the supervision of a licensed or accredited pest control applicator.
Using a portion of the city’s calamity fund, Celino said the city government would provide households with mosquito nets and repellents.
He said he would also put up ‘Dengue Crisis Management Center’ at the City Hall to cater to the needs of dengue patients.
The city government will likewise pay for the processing fee of indigent patients in need of blood transfusion, in coordination with the Philippine Red Cross.
Celino said they would require each barangay to donate at least 10 bags of blood per month until such time the outbreak is contained.
Vice Mayor Ronnie Dadivas said each member of the city Council would also do their share by leading clean-up drives in areas designated to them. He said 10 persons would be assigned to each councilor to assist the massive clean-up drive campaign.
In Naga City, with sustained information drive against dengue, the number of cases this year has dramatically gone down in the first seven months, according to Dr. Vito Borja, medical officer.
The information drive and the cooperation of village officials have decreased the number of cases from last year’s record of 220 in the same period to this year's 115.
Borja said they have made use of broadcast media to tell communities of the importance of sanitation and destroying the habitat of dengue-carrying mosquito.
He said they also continued to conduct village-level meetings with local officials and school cleanup activities where the cooperation of the communities was mobilized.
Borja noted a very significant decrease of cases in April with 86-percent decrease compared to last year’s record of 15 cases to only 2 cases in the same period this year.
In June, he said, the previous record of 61 cases had been down to 21 cases. The highest number of cases this year had reached 29 cases in July this year compared to 48 cases last year.
Borja believed that they could still push down the number of dengue cases here through sustained information drive to keep the cases of dengue at bay. ava? ?ofH'l??iharge 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.
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