The city is stepping up its drive against dengue given its steady rise in cases over the past years.
Part of the city government’s anti-dengue campaign is the implementation of a P40 million funding from the office of Sen. Ronald dela Rosa through coordination with Mayor Benjamin Magalong.
The amount has been downloaded to the city government from the Department of Health central and regional offices.
In a media briefing on May 31, Engr. Charles Carame of the City Health Services Office said the fund will be used mainly for the purchase of larvicides, a type of insecticide used to control mosquitoes by killing its larvae before they can grow into adult mosquitoes.
He said the city will also hire manpower which will help in formulating a year-round program on dengue prevention.
As part of observance of June as National Dengue Awareness Month, Carame added they have revived the Denguera Thursdays, which basically serves as the city’s declaration of war against dengue done simultaneously with its 128 barangays.
He said they have also intensified dengue information and education campaign by posting social media cards on anti-dengue measures on CHSO’s official social media account, among other programs.
“Dengue has been considered by the DOH as an all-year round disease, which rises in incidence during the rainy season. With Denguera, we are also reviving the Oplan Taob, in collaboration with the barangays because search and destroy remain the most effective way of eliminating dengue-carrying mosquitoes,” Carame said.
The city has documented 306 dengue cases with one death this year, according to CHSO Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit head Dr. Donabel Tubera-Panes.
She said most of the victims are from the younger age group, while the lone death is a 37-year old male from Pinsao Pilot Project barangay.
Clustering of cases (three cases in four months) has been recorded in barangays Irisan, Quezon Hill Proper, Kias, P. Burgos, Pinget, Bakakeng Central, Fairview, Trancoville, San Vicente, Camp 7, and Asin Road.
Panes added the city has also done an analysis on the incidence of dengue in the city from 2010 to 2021, which she said allowed the city to determine and implement dengue control and prevention measures.
The study, called “Visualizing the distribution of dengue cases through the years” done together with the University of the Philippines, showed dengue undergoes a cycle, and that it can be predicted when cases will increase.
It added yearly visualization may aid in observing the progression of dengue in the city and in evaluating current prevention efforts in the city and in barangays.
Based on the analysis, cases of dengue in the city were highest in 2010, 2013, 2016 and the same barangays reported high cases for having the highest population and therefore mosquito-human contact was also high.
Cases generally decreased since the outbreak in 2016, which may suggest prevention plans have been effective in decreasing cases in concerned barangays. – Hanna C. Lacsamana
