Dengue not slowing down
PANGASINAN ON VERGE OF OUTBREAK
OVERCROWDING with dengue patients is expected to continue in government-owned hospitals until September as the disease continues to attack the province with no sign of slowing down.
Dr. Michael Canto, director for external affairs of the Region 1 Medical Center (R1MC) in Dagupan and Dr. Karlo Marco Orduna, chief of clinics of the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital (PPH) in San Carlos City, said patients continued to be brought in last week with some already sharing beds.
The two doctors, however, stressed that even if the number of dengue cases is 300 percent higher than the 538 with 10 deaths recorded for the whole year of 2010, the situation remains under control.
During the ‘Media in Action’ Forum of the Pangasinan Press Club last Aug. 24, the doctors reported that the 1,357 patients including three deaths recorded so far in the province, still does not merit a declaration of an outbreak.
Canto said signs that dengue has not let up was the admittance overnight on August 23 of 32 patients at the R1MC where there were already 95 in-patients.
From August 1 to 23, a total of 353 dengue patients have been admitted at the hospital, a 128 percent increase from 155 in the whole month of August last year.
R1MC records show 80 percent of those afflicted were children who had to stay in the pediatric ward which has only 65 beds.
At the PPH, Orduna said most of the patients admitted were from San Carlos City, and the towns of Calasiao, Malasiqui and Mapandan.
The data from the Provincial Health Office show the highest the number of cases occurred in Dagupan City, Bolinao, Mangaldan and San Nicolas.
Most of the patients were from the 11 to 15 age group, followed by the 10 to 16 age group and by the 16 to 20 age group. The male-female ratio is almost equal.
Orduna maintained that the situation still does justify a declaration of an outbreak of dengue in any place in Pangasinan because the increase has not breached the threshold level and there is no clustering observed in specific communities.
YEAR-ROUND
Nonetheless, the doctors called on all residents of Pangasinan to continue cleaning their surroundings because it is the only way to stop the spread of the dengue virus carried by mosquitoes.
While the disease is expected to slow down from October to December, dengue is now considered a year-round disease.
At the same time, Canto called on residents in the rural areas to refrain from relying on the plant called tawa-tawa to cure dengue because there is still no scientific study proving this.
He advised parents to bring their children immediately to the hospital at the first signs of the disease.
ALL EFFORTS
Meanwhile, Governor Amado Espino Jr. vowed that the provincial government will continue to exert all efforts to control the spread of dengue in the province.
This was echoed by Dr. Ana Theresa de Guzman, Provincial Health Officer, who said several response mechanisms to control dengue have been launched.
These include massive health information drive in barangays and market areas and health advisories in schools throughout the province.
All government hospitals, according to Espino, are prepared to offer quick-response services given the improved facilities.
The governor also emphasized that all provincial government hospitals have enough supply of medicines.
He also noted that the regular blood-letting activities undertaken by the Liga ng mga Barangay and the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) have been helping stabilize blood supply in the province to meet the demand by dengue victims. (with report from PIO)
DAGUPAN COUNCIL PASSES 4
DENGUE-RELATED ORDINANCES
WITH the highest number of dengue cases in the province coming from Dagupan City, four resolutions were enacted last week by the Sanggunian Panlungsod to boost efforts for the prevention of the disease and to assist indigent patients.
Councilor Alvin Coquia authored three resolutions: Resolution No. 4809, calling on all barangay councils to conduct continuous clean up of their respective communities; Resolution No. 4810, asking schools to do similar activities; and Resolution No. 4811, requesting the mayor to allocate funds for larvicidal chemical solutions for use in the anti-dengue campaign.
Meanwhile, Councilor Jesus Canto, chair of the committee on health and sanitation, authored Resolution No. 4807, which seeks hospital fee exemptions for dengue victims from poor families.
Canto’s resolution asks the Department of Health to exempt all patients of dengue belonging to economic class C1, C2, C3 and D from payment of fees when confined at the Region 1 Medical Center in Dagupan.
Most of the patients confined at the R1MC, Canto noted, cannot afford to pay for their hospitalization and medicines.
The barangays with the biggest number of dengue cases are Bonuan Gueset, 20; Salapingao, 7; and Bonuan Boquig, 5.
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