BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Two more persons died of dengue in Negros Occidental, increasing the disease’s death toll in the province to 16.
Cases continue to increase, data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed.
Morbidity Week No. 31 (July 31 to August 6) recorded 235 new cases, bring the cumulative cases since Jan. 1 to 3,345 total dengue cases.
In the province’s capital Bacolod City, DOH reported 56 new cases from July 31 to Aug. 6.
Total cases in Bacolod City since January are now at 569, with fatalities still at eight.
For the whole Western Visayas, cumulative dengue cases have soared to 9,533 (since January of this year) with 54 fatalities.
Negros Occidental is bracing for an increase in dengue cases for at least another month brought by the rainy conditions.
The two mosquitoes known to spread dengue are the Aedes aegypti and the Aedes albopictus. They breed in clear, stagnant water.
Dengue causes a severe flu-like illness that could sometimes be fatal.
According to the World Health Organization, individuals should suspect dengue when a high fever (40 degrees centigrade) is accompanied by two of the following symptoms:
* severe headache
* pain behind the eyes
* nausea / vomiting
* swollen glands
* muscle and joint pains
* rashes
For severe dengue, the warning signs to look out for are:
* severe abdominal pain
* persistent vomiting
* rapid breathing
* bleeding gums
* blood in vomit
* fatigue, and
restlessness.
In Bacolod City, fogging operations have already been conducted in cluster-barangays where there had been record high dengue cases.
Among the villages that underwent fogging operations include Barangays Mansilingan, Mandalagan, and Tangub./PN
