Attributed to the cooperation of LGUs, agencies
BY:JOEY A. GABIETA
TACLOBAN CITY- Dengue fever cases here in the region may have reached its highest record but the regional office of the Department of Health(DOH) reported that its weekly cases is now in the decline.
From the start of the year until August 30, the DOH-8 has reported of 17,670 dengue fever cases across the region, of which 53 of them have died.
“While we have registered the highest number of dengue fever cases in the region since 2012, the good news is that our cases are decreasing based in our per week cases,” John Paul Roca, information officer of DOH-8,said.
According to him, from the previous months of 1,000 cases per week, the region has now only 500 dengue fever cases per week since last month.
Roca also said that unlike in previous months, the number of dengue fever patients brought to various hospitals are also in the decline, another indication that the further spread of the ailment is slowly being controlled.
In 2012, the region posted its highest number of dengue fever cases with over 12,000 people afflicted by the mosquito-bite ailment.
Roca said that the decline of dengue fever cases in the region could be attributed to the cooperation of local government units, to include other government agencies and the people in the communities, especially in the cleaning of surroundings where the mosquitoes that causes the ailment breed their eggs.
“(And) we are very thankful of their help because solving the dengue fever menace is not just a DOH initiative but by the whole communities,” he said.
Roca also said that parents are now aware on what to do whenever their children shows even slight of fever.
“They immediately seek immediate consultation unlike before that they only bring their children to the hospitals days after the onset of the fever,” he said.
Still, the DOH urged the public to continue on making sure that their surroundings are clean to ensure that its decline would continue,especially that rainy season is coming up.
The DOH in the region has projected that if the dengue fever cases would continue to increase, it could reached to over 28,000 using the per week number of dengue fever cases projection.
“That is why, we continue to advocate on search and destroy (on the breeding places),” Roca said.
Among the provinces in the region, Leyte posted the highest with 4,633 cases with 14 deaths followed by Samar with 3,014 cases with three deaths.
Eastern Samar has 2,190 cases with 12 deaths; Northern Samar, 1,371 cases with one death; Southern Leyte, 487 with four deaths; and Biliran, 548 with one death.
Meantime, among the seven cities of the region, Tacloban had the highest number of dengue fever, 2,248 with nine deaths followed by Calbayog,1,029 with one death; Catbalogan, 777 with three deaths; Ormoc, 584 with three deaths; Baybay,297 with one death; Borongan,399 with one death; Maasin, 70 with no death reported; and Baybay, 297 with single death.
