Dengue down by 84.7% in Dagupan

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DAGUPAN CITY   — Dengue here was down by 84.7 percent during the first 10 months of 2014 as compared with the same period last year, the City Health Office (CHO) reported today.

City Health Officer Leonard Carbonell said there were 1,054 cases of dengue and one death registered from January to October last year as compared to only 167 cases and zero death this year for the same period.

Carbonell spoke during a budget hearing conducted Wednesday by the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) committee on finance headed by Councilor Jeslito Seen in the presence of his fellow department heads.

He attributed the lesser dengue cases this year to the early information drive spearheaded by Mayor Belen Fernandez that stressed the value of maintaining cleanliness and sanitation in homes, schools and work places.

Carbonell said the mayor strongly supported the campaign against dengue and went on to mobilize all sectors of the society in Dagupan, especially the barangays, to work together in order to achieve zero dengue if possible.

He said the implementation of the four o’clock habit and the conduct “of Operation Taob” were parts of the information campaign launched in Dagupan against dengue.

This was complemented by fogging, misting and larvaecidal operations on stagnant waters that were susceptible to become breeding places of mosquitoes, all of which were done by his office before the opening of classes this year.

Barangay health nurses, numbering 40, were mobilized to conduct health education in 31 barangays where they urged the people to clean their homes and surrounding areas.

The food for work program of the city government supported by community residents that led to the clearing of stagnant canals also helped minimize incidents of dengue in Dagupan, Carbonell said.

“As compared to last year when one person from barangay Pogo Chico died from dengue, there is zero death in Dagupan this year owing to the early information drive on this disease conducted in the city,” Carbonell said.