Mayor Rama taps parents to supervise kids vs dengue

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is urging parents to take an active role in the fight against dengue by supervising their children.

“Balik gihapon ta sa atong Parent-Supervised Household Preparedness. This is now the responsibility of all heads of families to ensure that every member is protected, not only against COVID-19 but also against Dengue,” Rama said in a statement.

As more dengue cases are being logged, Rama anticipates that dengue will become a more serious matter to tackle than Covid-19.

“Yes, dengue may yet be even more serious now than CoViD,” he said.

Currently, Cebu City has the most number of cases of dengue for this year among local government units in Central Visayas.

The Department of Health-7's latest data shows that Cebu City already has a total of 1,710 cases of dengue, including 18 deaths, from the start of the year until July 9.

A surge in cases has already been anticipated this year as it usually happens every three years, health experts said earlier.

There are four serotypes of the dengue virus, and recovery from the infection is believed to provide lifelong immunity against that serotype.

Usually, there is one type among the cases infecting the community in a year and those that have already been infected with such that year will no longer be infected again with the same strain the next year, but with new strains and more susceptible ones showing up.

This year, however, the sudden rise in cases happened even before the expected rainy season and the city government believes it is one of the results of the wrath of typhoon Odette where many damaged areas have become a breeding ground for this dengue mosquito.

Rama refreshed his constituents on Executive Order No. 173, “Oplan Denguerra,” which he issued on June 29 and resounded the Enhanced 4S campaign of the Department of Health (DOH) and the City Health Department.

The 4S includes Secure self-protection, Search and destroy breeding places, Support for indoor and outdoor spraying and Seeking early consultation.

The City government is also offering free hospitalization for dengue cases, so residents should not worry about going to the hospital early.

The Cebu City Medical Center has also activated its fast lane for dengue so patients can be given attention right away.

“Let us all be part of the solution to the challenges of public health,” Rama said.

"Together, we can make better things happen for Cebu City," he added.