Dengue cases rising in city

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Health officials are again alerting the public against the spread of dengue after observing that the cases from January up to yesterday reached to 618, which is higher than last year’s 442 cases.

Durinda Macasocol, assistant head of the City Epidemiology Statistics and Surveillance Unit (CESSU), said there were already five dengue-related deaths recorded in Cebu City since January. There were already five casualties this year, similar to the figure for the same period in 2011.

Macasocol said they are conducting information campaigns in different barangays of Cebu City hoping to prevent the further spread of dengue cases.

Macasocol is worried because the sudden rise in the number of dengue cases can be attributed to the rains in the last few weeks.

Dengue-related deaths, though, decreased over the years. In 2007 there were 53 persons, mostly children, who died of dengue in Cebu City, but this went down to 51 in the following year. The figure continued to slide down to 41 in 2009 and further down to 26 casualties in 2010 and 19 deaths last year.

The City offers free hospitalization and medicines for dengue victims through the Cebu City Medical Center.

Macasocol encourages the public to help in the fight against the mosquito-borne disease by eliminating all breeding sites of mosquitoes and to maintain a clean, healthy and safe environment.

During pulong-pulongs, health personnel encourage the public to search and destroy the breeding sites of mosquitoes in their surroundings. — Rene U. Borromeo/JPM (THE FREEMAN)