The Department of Health and the Integrated Provincial Health Office has declared a dengue outbreak in four barangays in the province of Negros Oriental.
These are barangays Inapoy and Tara in the municipality of Mabinay and barangays Bal-os and Poblacion of the municipality of Basay, both situated in the boundaries with Negros Occidental.
These barangays have had zero cases of dengue in the past three to five years, but the last few weeks have seen dengue cases in these barangays going up into alarming proportions.
Assistant provincial health officer Dr. Liland Estacion has confirmed that barangay Bal-os in Basay now has 25 cases from zero in previous years, Poblacion barangay has 14 cases, while barangay Inapoy has 31 cases and barangay Tara with 28 cases.
She said the dengue cases increased in 2011, went down in 2012, went up in 2013, down in 2014 and 2015, up in 2016, down in 2017 and 2018.
This year from January to June, dengue cases have increased to 1,563 compared to only 416 dengue cases last year or an increase of more than 255 percent with six months to go before the year ends with five deaths reported, two in Basay, one each in Dumaguete, Sibulan and Manjuyod.
Due to the dengue outbreak in four barangays of the province, interventions are underway, to include entomologic surveys in said barangays, massive clean-up drives, assemblies, impregnation activities, distribution of treated screens to schools, house to house visitation of health workers from the barangays, from the rural health units and from the integrated provincial health office.
Dr. Estacion said the campaign against dengue is a team approach that starts with the family, the community and the entire populace. (Juancho Gallarde)
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