ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanews/11 July) –The local health office continues to intensify its anti-dengue campaign as cases rose in the first half of this year to 1,966, with 22 deaths, an official said.
Dr. Dulce Amor Dagalea, head of the city health’s epidemiology and surveillance unit, said the campaign against the deadly mosquito-borne disease is focused especially in barangays with high incidence of dengue cases.
From January to June last year, the city health office recorded 1,802 dengue cases, with 20 deaths.
The city health office has identified 10 barangays with high dengue cases namely Tetuan, Sta. Maria, Putik, Sangali, Talon-Talon, Sta. Catalina, Guiwan, Calarian, Tumaga, and San Roque.
However, Dagalea said that health personnel are also continuously monitoring the situation in the other barangays of the city.
Dagalea reiterated her appeal to the public to cooperate and participate in the city’s anti-dengue drive by maintaining cleanliness in their surroundings and destroying the breeding ground of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
The Department of Health (DOH) has also sought the help of barangay officials in its campaign against dengue.
The DOH has revitalized its “4-O’clock habit” anti-dengue campaign strategy.
First adopted in 1996, the strategy encouraged every member in the community to search and destroy mosquito breeding places every 4 p.m. of the day. (MindaNews)