by Sheila Covarrubias
ZAMBOANGA CITY, May 14, (PIA) - - The City
Government last week has declared a dengue outbreak in Zamboanga in the wake of rising
dengue incidences that have reached 774 cases with 9 fatalities from January 1
to April 30.
Mayor
Celso Lobregat said records from the City Health Office showed that dengue
cases have reached outbreak level in April requiring urgent and uninterrupted
measures to search and destroy breeding places of dengue carrier
mosquitoes.
Outbreak
threshold for April is 225 cases but actual reported cases for the period in
Zamboanga have reached 234.
The
barangays with the most number of dengue cases reported are Guiwan-51; Canelar-
31, Tugbungan-57; Tumaga- 63 and San Roque 47. Other hard hit barangays are
Zambowood, Cabatangan, Sta. Maria, Putik, Mercedes, Sangali, Maasin, Divisoria,
Pasobolong, Lumbangan, Rio Hondo and Tetuan.
The
declaration was made in a press conference early last week (Wednesday night)
which the chief executive presided together with City Health Officer Dr.
Rodelin Agbulos, Dr. Joshua Brillantes of the Regional Health Office, and Dr.
Dulce Dagalea and Dr. Usman of the CHO’s Epidemiology Surveillance Unit at the
City Hall conference room.
In
view of this, Mayor Lobregat has authorized the release of over half a million
pesos from the emergency funds to purchase larvicides and other chemicals that
will be used in the war against the mosquito-borne disease.
At
the same time, the chief executive has advised Dr. Agbulos to cancel all
applications for leave of absence by CHO personnel in view of the situation.
“We
need all hands on deck to fight this war against dengue and we hope with
everybody’s cooperation, we can win this war”, the mayor stated. He likewise
called on the constituents to do their share and intensify clean up drives to
get rid of the dengue carrier larvae.
Dr.
Agbulos said the basic and primary thing to do in cases like this is the
massive and simultaneous cleanup activity and emphasized that the cooperation
of everybody including the media is very essential.
The
CHO is set to carry out a comprehensive plan in cooperation with the barangays,
other health agencies and facilities and especially the community to ensure an
effective and efficient anti-dengue campaign. With this, a citywide clean up
drive was conducted yesterday May 12.
Dr.
Agbulos said the city government, the CHO and the barangay officials cannot do
the work alone but would require the help, support and cooperation of each and
every household.
Mayor
Lobregat re-echoed Dr. Agbulos’ appeal stressing that the whole community
should and must join forces to fight the war against dengue. “We are appealing
to everybody to clean their individual homes, communities and barangays to
eliminate breeding places of dengue-carrier mosquitoes.”
Potential
breeding sites of the dengue carrier larvae are buckets of clean and stagnant
water, flower vases, plants like bromeliads, gutters, tires and dark areas and
many others. One way to get rid of the dengue-carrier larvae is to put a
sizeable amount of salt on stagnant water.
Mayor
Lobregat likewise appealed for people to donate blood with the Philippine Red
Cross as dengue cases requires continuous stream of blood donations.
“We have to unite and join
together. Let us act now with a sense of urgency and try to eliminate these
breeding places through the search and destroy drives”, he added.
Dengue
hemorrhagic fever is an acute infectious disease manifested initially with
fever. Aedes aegypti, the transmitter of the disease, is a day-biting mosquito
which lays eggs in clear and stagnant water found in flower vases, cans, rain
barrels and old rubber tires among others. The adult mosquitoes rest in dark
places of the house. (JPA/SC/CIO/PIA9-ZBST)
