BACOLOD City – Nearly a month after
the Department of Health declared a national dengue epidemic, the number of
mosquito-borne disease is still increasing in this capital city.
Based on the latest data of the City Health Office (CHO), there are
already 1,325 dengue cases with six reported fatalities from Jan. 1 to Aug. 17
this year.
The figures showed a 106.1-percent increase compared to last year’s 638 cases with five fatalities in the same period.
The most number of dengue cases were recorded in Barangay Estefania with 162; followed by Barangay Tangub, 107; Villamonte, 88; and Taculing, 86.
CHO Environment and Sanitation Division head Grace Tan cautioned that the number of cases in the city will still surge if residents will continue to ignore their surroundings.
Tan appealed to the public to observe the “4 o’clock habit” as a strategy to curb the deadly viral disease.
“We encouraged everyone to clean their surroundings every 4 p.m. Destroy mosquito breeding places as a means of combating the spread of dengue fever,” she stressed.
The city government earlier appropriated a P17.8-million fund to be utilized by the CHO to prevent the spread of dengue virus.
Meanwhile, Provincial Health Office head Ernell Tumimbang reported that the number of dengue cases in Negros Occidental also showed a continued rise from Jan. 1 to Aug. 24 this year.
According to Tumimbang, they have recorded 6,641 dengue cases with 49 deaths in the province; 67 percent higher compared to 4,327 reported in the same period last year.
PHO’s morbidity week 34 also showed a total of 398 new cases, Tumimbang added.
Kabankalan City has the highest number of dengue cases with 972; followed by Bago City with 597 and Candoni, 179.
Despite the increase, Tumimbang noted the current figures already showed a downtrend compared to the previous weeks.
“The highest cases we have recorded are from Week 29 to 30 which is the peak and after which the cases either increased or decreased further,” he explained.
The PHO head said the provincial government’s efforts to control the spread of dengue are working and they need to sustain the drive in the coming months.
“It is impossible to eliminate it, but at least we can control it down,” Tumimbang added./PN
