(PNA)
DUMAGUETE CITY – While neighboring provinces in Central Visayas are grappling with dengue outbreak in certain areas, the province of Negros Oriental has so far managed to keep cases of this potentially fatal viral disease at a controllable level, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) here said Friday.
Dr. Socrates Villamor, provincial DOH head, attributes this to an aggressive campaign to strictly monitor possible areas with reported dengue cases and the immediate undertaking of pre-emptive measures.
“Swerte ta kay walay outbreak (we are lucky we don’t have an outbreak) pero naa mi programa sa DOH nga gi implement nato sa mga RHU (but we have a problem at DOH that we implement through the rural health units) to deploy human resource personnel for health together with the regular staff of the RHU to regularly conduct entomological survey in the barangays considered as high risk,” he said.
If an area is found to have plenty of aedes aegypti mosquitoes which are the carriers of dengue during an entomological survey, they will immediately conduct preventive measures such as destruction of breeding sites or impregnation of curtains and mosquito nets, among others, Dr. Villamor said.
He, however, stressed that fogging is not allowed.
These pre-emptive measures are among the reasons the incidence of dengue in the province has been “contained”, Villamor pointed out.
The RHU also continues its information dissemination campaigns on dengue, he added.
According to Villamor, the latest available data reaching his office showed a drop in the number of cases of dengue from January 1st to Nov. 3, this year. This year’s figure is also lower than that of the same period last year, he added.
Records at the DOH here showed that a total of 1,636 cases with eight deaths have been reported this year. This is 13 percent lower compared to the same period of last year, with 1,879 cases and 12 deaths.
The doctor, however, could not yet give a detailed account of the latest report on dengue cases, such as which town or city had the highest number of cases, as his office is still collating data gathered from the different hospitals and RHUs.
As the year is not yet over, Dr. Villamor admitted there is a probability that dengue cases will still increase especially because the rainy season is still prevailing.
Dr. Villamor appealed to the people to cooperate with the health authorities and clean their surroundings to destroy the possible breeding sites of mosquitoes.
