CHO intensifies campaign vs. dengue
The City Health Office (CHO) has intensified its implementation of public health measures against Dengue H-Fever amid reports of rising cases in the city.
The CHO is conducting larvicidal control through application of larvicide (abate powder) in drainage/canals with stagnant water to kill larvaes (kiti-kiti) before they can be full-grown mosquitoes. This method complements the fogging operations undertaken by the city which is conducted at index houses within a radius of 10-15 houses.
City Health Officer Dr. Leonard Carbonell alerted the public about possible breeding places for Aedes Aegypti, such as flower vases, cans, rain barrels, old rubber tires, etc.
Aedes Aegypti, the transmitter of the disease, is a day-biting mosquito which lays eggs in stagnant clear water.
Carbonell said the months of July to August this year recorded 81 suspected cases of dengue fever compared to 73 cases for the same period last year. He, however, stressed that the cases reported did not occur in cluster.
He pointed out that there is no dengue death reported in Dagupan as of September 4 compared to year 2005 which recorded three dengue deaths.
According to Carbonell, the CHO is coordinating with various public and private schools on basic health information campaign and messages which include the distribution of pamphlets and flyers.
“We have also coordinated with barangay captains to organize clean up activities like ‘4 o’clock habit’ and intensify and sustain ‘Solar Ko, Linisan Ko’ programs at their level,” he said.
As a matter of policy, the CHO immediately conducts a massive fogging operation in the area once a dengue case is reported in a particular barangay.
“Critical spots are regularly monitored by both the personnel of CHO and the barangay health workers, and while fogging operations have been going of in critical areas almost a week now,” Carbonell bared.
Based on epidemiological trend, the number of dengue fever cases usually peaks for the month of July to September but Carbonell said that there might still be cases even after September because Dengue is already endemic in highly-urbanized city like Dagupan.
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