DAVAO ORIENTAL—The Provincial and City Health Office are calling on the residents to help avoid dengue following the declaration of dengue outbreak in the City of Mati on September 30, 2018.

During the Kapihan sang Kapitolyo at the Provincial Capitol, Dr. Ben Hur Catbagan said dengue cases have reached 290 from January to September 2018 in the City of Mati alone. Among those barangays in the city with most dengue cases on the same period are Central with a total of 79 cases, Tamisan with 56 cases, Dahican with 45 cases, Matiao with 24 cases, and Sainz with 15 cases.

Catbagan said these barangays were affected easily by dengue due to crowded neighborhood being located in a highly urbanized area. “Highly dense areas are most affected by dengue because mosquitoes that are dengue carriers can fly up 200 meter radius from one patient’s house to another.  That is why I am asking for everybody’s cooperation to avoid dengue,” he said.

He said that July and October are the months that the public should be most cautious as trend from previous year up to the present shows the highest recorded dengue cases.

In the province, the Municipality of Baganga ranks second in the cases of dengue with a total of 92 cases on the third quarter 2018.

In response to the declaration of dengue outbreak, Catbagan said they used the City’s Calamity fund to implement Targeted Outdoor and Indoor Residual Spraying to almost 10,000 households in the city.

Jonel Valles, Provincial Dengue Coordinator, said that the Provincial Health Office likewise initiated dengue prevention such as the distribution of insecticide treated screens in public elementary schools, allocation of spray machines in each municipality, distribution of treated mosquito nets as well as its retreatment, and advocacy on dengue awareness. Photos by Rhea Shane Laureano