By Miriam G. Desacada
Tacloban City—From January to end of July this year, Eastern Visayas region recorded a total of 5,730 dengue cases, including 13 deaths, according to the Department of Health’s Eastern Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH-EVCHD) in an update on dengue outbreak that swept the region over the past months.
The province with most number of cases (two fatalities), is Leyte with 1,761 followed by Samar with 1,626 (eight deaths), and Southern Leyte with 785 (six deaths), which only days later rose to 820.
This dengue outbreak alarmed the local government of Ormoc City (located in the western part of Leyte) after the city logged in 444 confirmed dengue cases, 415 of them were hospitalized.
In its August 3 report, the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU) this number of cases is 25 percent higher than last year’s record for the same period.
This prompted Mayor Lucy Torres Gomez to ask the City Council to convene a special session on Thursday placing the city under a state of calamity, upon recommendation of the Local Health Board.
In Southern Leyte, all 17 towns and its capital city recorded a total of 820 dengue cases. Two areas each logged hundreds of cases: Maasin City with 346, and adjacent town of Macrohon, about 17 kilometers apart, with 205.
These two areas records about 67 percent of the total cases for the province, as of end of July.
The DOH-EVCHD called on the public and local governments to observe strategic steps to address the continuing rise of dengue cases and stop incidences of deaths.
The agency outlined is 5S-strategy against dengue: 1) search and destruction of mosquito breeding sites; 2) seek medical consultation immediately upon experiencing surge of fever, made worse with other symptoms, within two days; 3) self-protection by using insect repellant and the wearing of long-sleeved and light-colored clothes; 4) support fogging activities in communities where signs of dengue are noticed; and 5) sustain hydration by drinking enough glasses of water to avoid dehydration due to fever and vomiting.
On the part of the region’s Department of Education, tapped for its Brigada Eskwela activities are the LGUs to help in the cleaning of schools and classrooms.
DepEd also reported donations of mosquito nets to elementary school learners, while health authorities intensify the conduct of advocacy campaigns for dengue prevention. In Southern Leyte, the LGUs there, particularly the barangays have been conducting fogging and anti-dengue information campaigns. —Miriam G. Desacada