BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
With dengue cases in Negros Occidental gradually decreasing in the past several weeks, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Ernell Tumimbang expects it to go down further by December.
PHO logged 76 new cases as of September 24, which covers the year’s 38th morbidity week, from a peak of 316 cases on the 28th week.
Tumimbang attributed the lower cases to the active participation of the local government units in the anti-dengue caravan and their intensified information campaign reminding residents to be cautious when dengue cases were increasing.
“We just reiterated the ‘4S’ preventive measures as a reminder. We need to be proactive and clean our surroundings. If you can encourage them to clean up, transmission will definitely decrease. That is the major reason,” he added.
‘4S’ means “search and destroy,” “self-protection measures,” “seeking early consultation,” and “support fogging/spraying.”
From January to Sept. 24 this year, PHO recorded a total of 4,571 dengue cases, including 29 deaths, figures that are 960.56 percent higher, or 4,140 cases more than the 431 cases reported for the same period in the previous year.
A mosquito-borne illness, dengue is characterized by high fever accompanied by severe headache, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pains, nausea, vomiting, swollen glands and rashes.
The Department of Health-Western Visayas, on the other hand, reported cases in Region 6 remains below 500, with no deaths, during the 38th morbidity week.
Negros Occidental still on top in terms of the number of dengue cases, among provinces and highly urbanized cities in Western Visayas.*
