DAVAO CITY – A City Health official here said the number of dengue cases in the city this year has reduced by half compared last year.
Elizabeth Banzon, section chief of the Tropical Disease Control Division of the City Health Office, said they have recorded 2,814 cases from January to September this year. almost half of last year’s 4,490 cases during the same period.
Banzon said the deaths due to dengue also dropped from 36 last year to four this year.
She said two deaths were reported in Barangay Tibungco, one reported in Ula, Tugbok District, and another one in Bunawan district.
Banzon said Talomo poblacion is one of the areas with high incidents of dengue. However, she added that the dengue cases were recorded both from the rural and poblacion areas.
Banzon said the public must still keep their guard even if there is a reduction of dengue cases in the city.
She said they are urging everyone to “continue the 4-o’clock clean-up habit” in the barangays especially now that the dry season is in.
“Now that El Niño is coming and we are collecting rainwater, let us not be contented in covering our water containers. If there are already larvae inside the drum, it should be drained and cleaned with a brush,” she said adding that the mosquito eggs are still inside the drums even if you change the water inside.
“The eggs can live from four to five years,” she said.
She also said they are now upgrading the basic, clinical dengue management capacity of hospitals. Banzon also advised parents not to ignore patients with fever and to seek medical advise immediately.
Banzon said there were 243 cases of dengue in the month of August, while 264 of cases were recorded in September.
Dengue is transmitted by the female Aedes aegypti mosquito which breeds on clean water.
The Department of Health has recorded 92,807 (as of September 19) dengue cases nationwide. The figure is 23.5 percent higher compared to last year, with 269 deaths, lower than last year’s 316. (davaotoday.com)
