Health officials have raised the alert on the mosquito-borne dengue virus with the onset of the rainy season this month.
Studies show that dengue cases tend to rise during the wet season, thus steps have been taken to ensure a more responsive, coordinated and enhanced campaign against the spread of dengue in the communities.
From January to May this year, the City Health Office has confirmed a total of 174 dengue cases with one death.
In the Central Visayas region, there have been 7,363 dengue cases with 43 deaths over the same four-month period, representing a 239% increase compared to the same period last year.
Dumaguete health and barangay officials recently launched a Kontra-Dengue information drive as part of the enhanced campaign to educate the citizens on how to hunt and kill dengue carrying mosquitoes.
City Health Officer Dr. Maria Sarah B. Talla said that they have already started distributing chemically treated window screens for public elementary schools and day care centers; continuous search and destroy activities of possible breeding grounds of dengue carrying mosquitoes.
The CHO has also applied larvaecide to stagnant water and given mosquito repellent lotion to day care centers and public schools in time for the opening of classes, in addition to conducting massive and sustained clean up drives in the barangays and distribution of IEC materials. (PR)
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