DOH: Cebu City only under dengue ‘alert threshold’

CEBU CITY — If the requirements of the Department of Health (DOH) are to be strictly followed, Cebu City cannot be declared under a state of calamity with the present number of dengue cases.

Enrique Tayag, director of the DOH National Epidemiology Center, spoke before the city council the other day and said that Cebu City is only on "alert threshold," meaning it has exceeded the usual number of dengue cases but not reaching epidemic proportion.

"Cebu City does not have an epidemic but (is) just in alarm state," Tayag said.

He added, though, that what is alarming in Cebu and the region is that there are more dengue-related deaths this year compared to last year.

This, according to Tayag, might either be because the virus carried by mosquitoes here is a severe strain, or that Quezon City, which also has many dengue cases, has better treatment facilities.

Last year, Cebu had 937 cases and seven deaths, but this year, 19 deaths have so far been reported among the 685 affected individuals.

Under DOH standards, an area can be declared under a state of calamity if 20 percent of its population is affected. In Cebu City, 20 percent is equivalent to some 140,000 affected residents.

Based on records, Tayag said the high rate of cases in Barangays Guadalupe, Lahug and Tisa shows that these three places may have the most number of dengue breeding sites.

But Tayag said he understood why the Cebu City Disaster and Coordinating Council (CCDCC) recommended that the city be placed under a state of calamity.

The reason: the Local Government Code authorizes such a declaration as long as more than two cases are present in the area so that appropriations can be made.

City councilors got irked when several sectors insinuated that the declaration of the state of calamity was done so they could benefit from the calamity fund.

Tayag said the "search-and-destroy" strategy is still the proven and most effective way to combat dengue. This entails elimination of mosquito-breeding sites coupled with the prevention of bites by using mosquito repellant and prompt detection of the virus.

While the city government has readied mistblowers, Tayag discouraged their use, saying insecticides can reportedly create "unnecessary resistance" among mosquitoes and could just drive them away to other places to breed, thus spreading the virus.

He said insecticides are necessary if there is already an extreme density of mosquitoes in an area.

He said just a teardrop of clean and clear water would allow a dengue virus-carrying mosquito to hatch 400 larvae.

City health officer Fe Cabugao said she should have objected had she been in the meeting when the CCDCC recommended placing the city under the state of calamity.

But she said they are not necessarily contradicting the council’s decision because the city health office is one of the beneficiaries of the calamity fund that can help their campaign against dengue.

Despite Tayag’s explanation of what can be declared under a state of calamity, the city council opted to stick to its declaration. Vice Mayor Michael Rama said it is better that funds are available should the situation worsen.

Tayag suggested that in the future, there should be a uniform declaration by the city council and the city health office to avoid confusion and misinterpretation. — Freeman News Service