- CHERYL G. CRUZ
The dengue death toll in Bacolod City rose to 12, with the deaths of two six-year-old girls from barangays 8 and Taculing, the City Health Office reported Oct. 11.
Dr. Grace Tan, head of the CHO Environmental Sanitation Division, said that in the Bacolod City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit report as of Oct. 1, total reported dengue cases reached 831, or 216 percent higher than the cases last year of 263 with three deaths.
Clustering of cases, from Sept. 10 to Oct. 1, was noted in barangays Taculing, Mansilingan, Singcang, Tangub, Vista Alegre, Cabug, Alijis, Estefania, Mandalagan, Banago, Villamonte, and Bata.
Tan added that hotspot areas for dengue are barangays Taculing and Mansilingan, as increasing number of cases has been noted for four consecutive weeks, or a death case also logged.
Mansilingan still topped the barangays with highest dengue cases at 105, followed by Taculing 69, Estefania 58, Tangub 57, Singcang 53, Villamonte 50, Alijis 47, Cabug 43, Sum-ag 39, Mandalagan 39, Handumanan 31, Bata 29, Granada 25, Vista Alegre 24, and Banago 22.
Indoor and outdoor residual sprayings were conducted in barangays 12 and Taculing, Tan said even as she urged anyone with fever or flulike symptoms to seek early treatment or consultation, or on the second day of having fever.
“The most common denominator for patient death is delayed consultation,” she stressed.
The CHO also strongly urges everyone to search and destroy all breeding and nesting places of mosquitoes, and to stay hydrated with water/oresol, especially if with fever.
The Department of Health 6, meanwhile, reported that 75 new dengue cases were logged in Negros Occidental, from Sept. 18 to 24, and total cases since Jan. 1 stood at 4,650 with 28 deaths.
As of the Sept. 18 to 24 report, there were 192 newly-reported dengue cases in Western Visayas, bringing the total to 12,958, or an increase of 570 percent compared to 1,933 cases in the same period in 2021.
There were 73 dengue deaths logged, from Jan. 1 to Sept. 24 this year, the DOH6 added./CGC
