The Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH WV CHD) on Friday, June 14, called for an intensified 4S strategy to check the further increase in dengue cases in the region, which has reached 3,482 with nine deaths from Jan. 1 to June 8 this year.
Dr. Bea Camille Natalaray, the center’s program medical coordinator for emerging and re-emerging infectious disease cluster, said this year’s total number of cases is 22 percent higher than the 2,855 cases logged in the same period last year.
“We are now entering the rainy season. The more that we advocate for our 4S strategy in our barangays. As early as now, we started our advocacy at the barangay level to search and destroy (mosquito) breeding places,” she said in an online press conference.
The 4S strategy stands for search and destroy, seek early consultation, self-protection, and say yes to fogging and spraying.
Natalaray said dengue is no longer seasonal as there are cases throughout the year.
She said the increase in cases happened even when there was El Niño because stored water also became a breeding place for mosquitoes.
Of the cases this year, the highest number came from Iloilo province with 1,128, Negros Occidental with 519, and Aklan with 553.
The median age is 13, but the most affected are those 1 year to 10 years, comprising 40 percent; and 11 years to 20 years old, with 28 percent of the total number of cases.
The deaths were from Iloilo province with four, Negros Occidental – three and Aklan and Capiz with one each.
“We have 29 barangays with clustering of cases and one hotspot in Barangay Odiongan. A hotspot is an area with sustained increase in cases or areas with increased cases and dengue deaths,” Natalaray added.
She added that they are preparing for the possible increase in cases as there would be more breeding places this rainy season.
“As we celebrate Dengue Awareness Month this June with the theme, ‘Stop the Spread Sama-Sama Nating Sugpuin ang Dengue,’ the Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development emphasizes the importance of proactive measures in combating the spread of this fatal disease,” she said.*PNA