Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Dengue prevention drive up in Camiguin

Mahinog, Camiguin— The rise of dengue cases alarmed residents here prompting local executives to mobilize its health personnel for a continuous dengue prevention drive.

Immediately, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) in coordination with the Municipal Health Office here (MHO) convened all barangay captains and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) leaders to discuss crucial concerns of the disease and measures to control its spread.

The measure is to heighten public awareness on the preventive measures against the dreaded dengue disease.

The latest surveillance report on dengue in Camiguin went up from 27 cases in 2008 to 91 reported cases in 2009.

With the recorded rise of 64 additional cases last year, the PHO however assures the public that there is no outbreak as these cases are sporadic in nature.

Areas with the highest number of reported cases are in the towns of Mambajao with 61 and Sagay recording about 18 dengue cases.

In Mahinog, there are 5 dengue cases admitted to Camiguin General Hospital for this month alone, a report from the municipal health office showed.

Earlier, a 5-year-old child from barangay Hubangon who lived in Mambajao had succumbed to dengue.

The PHO is now closely coordinating with the Department of Education (DepEd) for a massive dengue prevention and control information drive during parents-teachers meet.

About nine (9) parents-teachers meeting undertaken dengue orientation for this month alone and the information drive will continue for the rest of the year.

Earlier, the municipal health office under Dr. Juanita K. Llacuna advised residents to practice the “4S” which means search and destroy breeding places of mosquitoes, self-protection by wearing proper clothing, seek early consultation and say no to indiscriminate fogging.

Fogging is discouraged as it brings risks to individuals suffering from asthma.

Local health authorities call on everyone to cover water drums and water pails at all times to prevent mosquitoes from breeding, replace water in flower vases once a week, clean all water containers once a week and scrub the sides well to remove eggs of mosquitoes sticking to the sides.

Clean gutters of leaves and debris so that rain water will not collect as breeding places of mosquitoes, old tires used as roof support should be punctured or cut to avoid accumulation of water, collect and dispose all unusable tin cans, jars, bottles and other items that can collect and hold water.

According to the Web site of the Department of Health, dengue is an acute infectious disease manifested initially with fever. The transmitter of the disease is a day-biting mosquito, which lays eggs in clear and stagnant water.

Signs and Symptoms of the disease include sudden onset of high fever which may last 2 to 7 days, joint and muscle pain and pain behind the eyes, weakness, skin rashes - maculopapular rash or red tiny spots on the skin called petechiae, nose bleeding when fever starts to subside, abdominal pain, vomiting of coffee-colored matter and dark-colored stools.

The provincial capitol, schools and other government offices in Camiguin also undertake periodic clean up of its buildings and surrounding grounds to help stop the spread of the disease. (Homer R. Jajalla, Mahinog Information Office)

5 comments:

  1. how many people died in total?
    dengue awareness is a good intervention.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 2 died last year, both from the town of Mambajao. Good news guys! the Governor announced that the CGH will soon be having the equipment use to treat dengue patients. Thus, there is no need to transport dengue patients to Cagayan de Oro

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  3. i hope so kay ako sis gi admit sa polymedic 3 days & thanks gods she finally recovered na..

    don't just wait if pabalik balik na ang fever as i observed lack of facilities & more on observation ang hospital hulatan pa na mo grabe ang hilanat ayha pa maglihuk ang mga nurses intawn ga tanga rana sila. wlay klaro

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  4. soon to have equipment for dengue treatment?
    what a GREAT news!

    People (locals and tourists)will feel "safer" living or visiting in the island knowing they have a good hospital they can run into during emergencies..

    A hospital with INTEGRITY will even foster tourism..if i were the tourist, i would feel more comfortable and more of an adventurous if i knew that there's a good hospital nearby in case of emergency... and that means for Camiguin to invest on updated technology, good doctors, and awareness programs..and no more misdiagnosing of common disorders..

    I mentioned "tourist" just because we know that we are catering to them to increase tourism revenue and not because locals are less important,of course NOT. first of all, this is for the service of Camiguingnons..and i am for the people.

    I'm happy to hear that equipment for dengue treatment is on its way..This is one good step..thank you so much..i hope to hear some follow-up detail..

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear anonymous #2, thank u so much for sharing ur experience with the hospital..i can see how frustrating this must be for your family..as i said in my previous comment, they need modern facilities. And based on your comment, it sounds like they need more coordination with the staff, also enhanced doctor-nurse communication..i know they have some good nurses there (u know who u are), i intend no offense upon them.

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