07 Oct CDO Health Official Says Increasing Number of Dengue Cases in the City Alarming
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For the first 3 quarters of this year, 2016, a total of 1,619 cases of dengue with 7 deaths have already been recorded in Cagayan de Oro City as based from the report of the City Health Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (CHESU). According to a health official in the city, it is most likely that the number of dengue cases this year will surpass last year’s figures.
“According to our statistics, the rate of the increase in the number of mosquito-borne diseases here in Cagayan de Oro is considered alarming. We already have 1,600 plus dengue cases and we haven’t even reached the end of the year. We are really anticipating the fact that this year’s toll of dengue patients will be greater than 2015’s which only went up to 1,934 with only four deaths,” said the officer in charge of the Environmental Sanitation Office Sergio Ramon Bautista.
Carmen, Kauswagan, Balulang, Lumbia, Bulua, Lapasan, Macasandig, Bugo, Patag, and Canitoan are the top 10 barangays with the highest number of dengue cases.
Though there were no reported cases of Malaria and Zika in the city, CHESU noted that there was a total of 88 Chikungunya cases as of last month, September, of this year, and one recorded Japanese encephalitis case.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Sanitation Office has been providing intervention activities to all Cagayan de Oro barangays to counter the mentioned diseases through conducting clean-up drives, hosting symposiums regarding the nature of the carrier mosquitoes, and distributing screen treated nets against mosquitoes.
Bautista said, “When we go to the barangays we always inspect houses to make sure that there are no places for these mosquitoes to hatch their eggs. We really try to educate the people. Another problem, however, is the community behavior when it comes to cleaning the surroundings,” adding that most of the households only do cleaning when there are already cases of the said diseases reported in their area. And since the rainy season has now started, Bautista said that it will be harder to put the increasing rate of the diseases to a stop.
Bautista prompts the people of Cagayan de Oro to always exhibit preventive measures against the disease-carrying mosquitoes through maintaining stricter supervision of household stagnant waters like of those in water reservoirs, vases, or any deepened surfaces that can store even a little amount of water. Know that mosquitoes only need a tablespoon of water to lay eggs.
On the other hand, division chief of the Solid Waste Management under the City Local Environment and Natural Resources Office (CLEANRO) Elvisa Mabelin noted that they face difficulties in keeping the cleanliness of the city. One is the refusal of some citizens to follow the pick-up schedules of the garbage trucks, placing their garbage in designated areas even when there’s no schedule for that time or after collectors have left which allows other elements and stray animals to suspect the garbage making it to scatter at the area.
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