MAASIN CITY (PIA) – Local health authorities here have strongly appealed to the members of Dengue Brigade in every barangay to act better, as the mosquito bite disease known as dengue has been rising, spreading fast in 49 out of 70 barangays in the city.
Vanessa Napuli, a representative of the Department of Health (DOH), said the agency continues to push for preventive recovery measures while at the same time it also focuses on the curative recovery aspect of patients.
In the joint meeting of the City Health Board and City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council on Tuesday, August 13, held at the Mayor’s Office, Napuli urged to practice once again the daily 4 o’clock habit, a method of searching and destroying breeding places of mosquitoes in homes, schools, and offices.
Also, the tidying of stagnant water containers in rural areas was encouraged, as well as the conduct of fogging in barangays with high incidence as precautionary measure, and conduct larval survey in any possible places that are often infested by mosquitoes.
For those already ill, health officials make sure patients get the needed fluids, even if they are just at home, said Napuli.
As per the latest count, from January to August 8 this year, 375 individuals have contracted dengue disease, with less than five months still left this year.
The number is now four times more than last year (2023), with a total of 83 cases, and more than double that of 2022 with 175 cases; however, in 2022, there were four fatalities, but none thus far this year, as well as in 2023, based on data from the City Health Unit.
In the same emergency meeting led by Mayor Nacional Mercado, the local health board and DRRM council passed a resolution to put the city in a state of calamity.
This move is set to be addressed by the City Council in a special session as soon as possible so that the mayor can immediately sign the declaration, and the quick response fund amounting to more or less P5 million can be used to buy materials, medical supplies, and other disease-fighting equipment listed by the CHU.
Mayor Mercado is also calling on the barangay chiefs and other barangay officials in the 70 barangays to take action and other initiative efforts as their share in preventing the dengue outbreak from continually rising.
And those who are already experiencing symptoms of the illness, such as high fever that has exceeded two days and other body woes, just go to the Urban Health Center in Barangay Combado to be checked immediately through Rapid Diagnostic Test, Mayor Mercado instructed in his social media post. (MMP, PIA Southern Leyte)
