Town tries to stem rise in dengue cases

In its official Facebook page, Daanbantayan reports dengue cases in at least 14 of its 20 barangays; the Municipal Health Office has started making rounds for misting operations to stop disease-carrying mosquitoes from breeding

Following a surge in the number of dengue cases in the town, Daanbatanyan Mayor Vicente Loot has ordered a massive community-based clean-up drive.

The Municipal Health Office (MHO) reported 66 dengue cases from Jan. 1 to Feb. 8.

The MHO, though, stressed that there were no reported deaths.

In its official Facebook page last Feb. 8, Daanbantayan reported dengue cases in at least 14 of its 20 barangays.

Barangay Poblacion recorded the highest number of cases at 14, followed by Agujo and Maya with 12 and nine cases, respectively.

Barangays Pajo and Talisay also recorded eight and six dengue cases, respectively.

“The local chief executive has directed the MHO and barangay officials in all 20 barangays to conduct a massive community-based dengue prevention and control mechanism. The MHO and barangay officials have initiated an interpersonal information dissemination campaign in different schools and households by encouraging everyone to participate in the clean-up drives to ensure that their surroundings are free from breeding places of mosquitoes,” reads a portion of the post.

The MHO, in coordination with the Department of Health 7, started making rounds for misting operations to stop disease-carrying mosquitoes from breeding.

The MHO already conducted misting activities in Barangays Poblacion and Agujo.

They are expected to start another round of misting operations next week in Tapilon, Maya and Talisay.

Records from the Provincial Health Office (PHO) reveal that Daanbatayan reported 213 dengue cases in 2015, making it the third local government unit with the highest number of cases in the province at that time.

In 2017, the town reported only 64 dengue cases, but the number increased to 94 last year.

The PHO, though, has been expecting dengue cases to rise.

In an earlier report, PHO Chief Dr. Rene Catan said they were expecting dengue cases to spike since dengue cases usually peaked every three years.

In 2016, Cebu reported 9,063 dengue cases, while only 2,461 cases were reported in 2015.

In 2017, only 4,914 dengue cases were reported. But while there were 5,363 reported cases in 2018, this was nowhere near the recorded figures in 2016.

The PHO, though, has yet to reveal its report for 2019 since it is still waiting for reports from provincial district hospitals.

Catan said they were tapping the Department of Education 7 to incorporate ovitrapping in the school curriculum.

Ovitraps are used for monitoring and can detect disease-carrying mosquitoes, acting as an early warning signal to preempt disease outbreaks.