CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews/20 August) — Local officials down to the barangay level have been mobilized to counter the spread of dengue fever which has widely spread in 10 barangays of the city.
City Councilor Maria Lourdes Gaane, a physician who chairs the Sanggunian Panlungsod health committee said the local government is launching “Oplan Kontra Dengue” to get rid of the breeding ground of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito species that carries the dengue virus.
Gaane said all local officials down to the barangay level will be out on the streets to clean drainage canals and other possible breeding grounds of the mosquitoes.
“It will be an all-out war today. We will fog the drainage canals and clean the schools today,” she said.
This came after 184 more dengue patients were rushed to various hospitals over the weekend, doctors said. These included children from middle-class families.
Dr. Ramon Nery, chief of the government-run JR Borja General Hospital said this raised the number of afflicted residents to 1,964 from 1,780 cases in the city last week.
“We have to open more wards to accommodate the patients this week. Other hospitals in the city have opened more rooms too,” Nery said.
Cagayan de Oro ranks as one of the areas in Region 10 with the highest incidence of dengue cases.
The City Health office reported 15 deaths from January to August 16 this year. Eight deaths happened between July and August.
City Health Officer Dr. Fe Bongcas said the10 barangays with the highest dengue incidence are Canitoan, Lumbia, Balulang, Lapasan, Patag, Iponan, Bugo, Bulua, Macabalan and Macasandig.
Nery said many of those afflicted with dengue came from the clusters of houses or middle-class neighborhoods families not the urban poor.
He said many children got bitten by the mosquitoes in schools. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)