There’s no dengue outbreak in city: Treñas
The problem on dengue hemorrhagic fever in Iloilo City has not yet reached a level that it could be considered an outbreak.
City Mayor Jerry Treñas made this statement yesterday amid reports that the number of dengue cases in the city continue to increase.
Treñas said there are dengue cases in the city but it is not sufficient to consider a dengue outbreak.
There are some 20 recorded dengue deaths here. The number of dengue deaths and cases in the city is much higher compared to previous year’s.
Health officials are still confirming the report of additional dengue death. The last confirmed dengue fatality is 12-year old Patrick Charles Magallanes of Veterans Village, City Proper.
The dengue deaths keep on increasing in spite of the several campaigns of the city government. Information campaign has been launched early this year before the onset of the rainy season.
Weeks ago, the City Health Office (CHO) issued an appeal to the residents to exercise preventive measures and seek immediate medical attention should they manifest dengue-like symptoms.
The appeal was made after the health office observed an increase in the dengue cases in the city for the past seven months. Iloilo City has the most number of dengue cases in Western Visayas.
Treñas also issued several memorandum orders to the punong barangays to initiate clean up drive to destroy the breeding place of dengue-carrying mosquitoes particularly in dengue stricken barangays.
The health department identified barangays Sto. Nino, Arevalo; San Juan, Molo and Veterans Village, City Proper as dengue stricken barangays in the city.
The city has embarked on the 4S strategy to address the problems on dengue. The 4S strategy refers to: search and destroy, self-protection by wearing proper clothing, seek early consultation and say no to indiscriminate fogging. A task force chaired by Dr. Mae Delmo of the City Health Office was also created to monitor and come up with a solution on the rising dengue cases.
Dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever are caused by viral strains. The virus is transmitted to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes Stegomyia aegypti and Stegomyia albopticus, previously known as Aedes aegypti. Dengue is the second deadliest mosquito-borne illness after malaria.
There are no specific treatments for dengue fever available yet, supportive treatments include bed rest, fluid administration and analgesia. There is no available vaccine to prevent dengue fever, although several vaccines are currently in development.