CITING the state weather bureau Pagasa’s confirmation on the start of the country’s rainy season this June, the City Health Office (CHO) said Cagayan de Oro logged fewer dengue cases from January to May this year.
“Based on our monitoring of (dengue) morbidity week 1 to 21 (January to May 2023), the city logged 482 dengue fever cases. This is lower by 28 percent for the same period last year in which the city recorded 676 dengue fever cases. For this year, the age of dengue victims ranged from less than one year old to 67 years old,” City Hall’s resident epidemiologist Dr. Teodulfo Joselito Retuya Jr said.
During the monthly Covid-19 response briefing Monday, Dr. Retuya said the majority of the 482 dengue cases were males while the median age for dengue patients is nine years old.
Dr. Retuya said while they are happy that the dengue cases for the first five months were below the epidemic threshold, these conditions could change at the onset of the rainy season.
“We reminded the barangay health workers to be on alert, especially during the rainy season. While the numbers are lower, now is not the time (to relax our) vigilance. That is why we remind our constituents and our barangay officials to be aware and clean their surroundings (to avoid attracting dengue-carrying mosquitoes),” Dr. Retuya said.
Dr. Retuya cited anew the Department of Health’s ‘Four S’ campaign in dealing with dengue, the first S being ‘Search and Destroy’ the breeding grounds of dengue-carrying mosquitoes and the second ‘S’ being ‘seeking early consultation’ for dengue symptoms at the city’s barangay health centers and hospitals.
“The third S being self-protection by (wearing protective clothing),” he said.
The fourth ‘S’ is ‘Say Yes to Fogging’ in areas with confirmed high incidences of dengue cases, Dr. Retuya said.
“Thankfully the city logged fewer dengue deaths (one or two) but that should not be cause for complacency. The onset of dengue cases comes during the rainy season so we hope that the public will cooperate in keeping our dengue cases down,” Dr. Retuya said. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)
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