Guihulngan, Canlaon under dengue outbreak

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Health in Negros Oriental declared a dengue outbreak in two cities in the northern part of the province earlier this week due to a sudden increase in the number of individuals diagnosed with the illness.

DOH provincial team leader Doctor Socrates Villamor confirmed that a dengue outbreak had been declared in Guihulgan City and Canlaon City since last week, the former with a total of 136 dengue cases and the latter more than 40 cases.

In Barangay Poblacion, Guihulngan alone, Villamor said, more than 90 dengue cases were recorded in just one month while the rest come from the neighboring barangays.

Initial investigations conducted by a team from the Regional Epidemiological Survey Unit headed by Renan Cimafranca showed that most of the victims are students of the Negros Oriental State University-Guihulngan Campus who are renting boarding houses at the back of the Guihulngan City District Hospital.

DOH has already provided technical assistance to Guihulngan City in coordination with the Negros Oriental Provincial Health office, through Doctor Edgardo Barredo, to lower down the number of cases by providing them with chemically-treated mosquito nets and the conduct of a massive cleanliness drive in the Poblacion area to destroy possible breeding places of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

Villamor, however, made it clear it’s only an outbreak and not epidemic.

Continuous monitoring is being conducted by local health authorities and health personnel who were trained about integrated vector management control and dengue prevention.

A dengue outbreak was also declared in Canlaon City with more than 40 dengue cases recorded so far. The declaration was made because of the recent sudden increase of the cases.

According to Villamor, no fatality was reported, except for one in Dumaguete City, a 34-year-old male who previously worked with the Guihulngan District Hospital.

He urged the whole community to observe the 4 o’clock habit and to search and destroy possible breeding sites of dengue-carrying mosquitoes the whole year round, not just during outbreaks.-/JMD (FREEMAN)