BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Dengue cases in Negros Occidental keep increasing.
The province recorded 181 new cases on Morbidity Week No. 33 (Aug. 14 to 20), Department of Health (DOH) Western Visayas’ data showed.
The new cases brought Negros Occidental’s cumulative dengue cases this year to 3,648.
The province also recorded three new dengue fatalities, bringing the total death toll to 24.
Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said one of the reasons for the case surge is the rainy conditions in the province.
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection causing a severe flu-like illness that could sometimes be fatal. Its carriers are day-biting mosquitoes (Aedes albpictus and Aedes aegypti) that live and breed and clean, stagnant water.
Diaz said the Provincial Health Office (PHO) is being challenged to further strengthen its coordination with the province’s 31 city and municipal health offices to combat the spread of dengue.
He urged local government units to maintain their turf’s cleanliness, pointing out that there is no better way to fight dengue than but applying the “4S” strategy:
* search and destroy mosquito breeding places
* secure self-protection from mosquito bites
* seek early consultation” when signs and symptoms of dengue occur
* say yes to fogging as a last resort when there is an impending outbreak./PN
