Negros Oriental has logged 910 dengue cases and one death from January 1 to May 2025, which is 25 percent lower from the dengue cases recorded in the same period last year.
Negros Oriental Provincial Health Office Dengue Program Coordinator Noel Ferrero said last year’s cases totaled to 1,208 cases with four deaths.
“Ages of (dengue) cases range from as early as 1 month old to as 93 years old, affecting mostly 1 to 10 years old,” Ferrero said during the recent Kapihan sa PIA forum.
The figures are based on the number of cases that were forwarded to the PHO from the local health offices in the Province.
Local government units with the most number of dengue cases are Siaton, Tanjay City, Dumaguete City, Mabinay, and Bayawan City.
Ferrero added that the trend of dengue cases in the Province is decreasing.
However, the PHO remains vigilant as the trend tends to go up every three years based on their monitoring since 2011.
“This year is the third year, so we are expecting that there will be an increasing trend for dengue cases but as we look in the statistics the trend is going down,” he said.
In Dumaguete, City Health Office Medical Officer Dr. Jade Rosales said in the same forum that dengue cases in the City also decreased from last year.
“We have 61 cases right now as opposed to last year in the same time period from January to May (which is) 84 as validated by testing for dengue,” said Rosales.
He added that the barangays with the most number of dengue cases are Candau-ay, Bagacay, Camanjac, and Piapi.
In observance of Dengue Awareness Month this June, local health officials reminded the public to remain vigilant in destroying breeding sites of dengue-carrying mosquitoes to prevent the spread of dengue infection.
The Department of Health issued an advisory encouraging the public to carry out the “4Ts” every 4:00 p.m. to prevent dengue: Taob (to invert containers that could hold water), Taktak (to dislodge excess water), Tuyo (to dry), and Takip (to cover water containers).
Rosales said part of the CHO’s best practices in prevention and control of dengue include search-and-destroy operations of mosquito breeding sites, mosquito net treatment in schools, clean-up drives, and entomological surveys to monitor cases.
He also emphasized that open burning every afternoon does not help in killing dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
“Burning has little to no effect for controlling dengue. So the most effective things to do would be environmental clean-up, disposing of containers that contain stagnant bodies of water that allow the larva to grow,” Rosales said.
CHO Nurse Margarita Rubio said their office took the lead in activating dengue brigades in schools and distributing citronella lotion to day care centers, elementary schools, and dengue patients.
CHO also treats curtains with mosquito-killing chemicals and installed treated mosquito nets in schools, which would kill mosquitoes upon contact.
“For this month, ang naka-schedule pa namo (we have scheduled impregnation for) for impregnation kay katong Daro, RTPM (Ramon Teves Pastor-Memorial Dumaguete Science High School), Daro NOHS (Negros Oriental High School), Taclobo, Cantil-i and Pulantubig,” she said. (RAL/PIA7-NegOr/with reports from Dianne Antonette Grafe)
