The town of Quezon has been placed under a state of calamity due to the dengue outbreak, a disaster risk reduction management official said.
Vicky Solatorio, Health Education and Promotions Officer of Quezon Municipal Health Office, said Thursday that to date, 96 dengue cases have already been recorded in their town with one death.
She said most of the cases are from Barangay Alfonso XIII, and the others from Tabon and Berong.
“D’yan po talaga ang maraming cases ngayon. Nagkaroon na lang sa ibang barangay kasi dito nag-aaral o pumupunta dito. Kaya nag-deklara na kami ng outbreak noong nakaraan dahil d’yan,” she said.
Solatorio said based on their study, dengue-carrier mosquitoes are breeding in stagnant, if not the stored water by the residents because of the dry season.
She called on residents in Quezon to not just store water without covers because the Aedis aegypti mosquitoes can breed in them.
“Sa tingin talaga namin ay dahil ito sa tubig ngayon kasi tag-init na hindi ba? Kaya ang mga tao ay nag-iimbak na ng tubig, isa pa ang mga stagnant d’yan. Nag-test kami ng lamok nakaraan at nag-positive nga ito na dengue mosquito,” Solatorio explained.
According to her, the increasing cases is alarming because last year, Quezon only had 55 dengue cases.
Currently, they are conducting misting in every household to prevent additional cases.
“Alarming talaga kasi sa tinagal-tagal bago lang kami nagkaroon ng ganito ka dami na kaso. Last year, 55 lang ‘yon, ngayong taon March pa lang mataas na siya. Kaya ngayon nagco-conduct kami ng misting sa mga bahay para sana hindi na ba madagdagan ang kaso natin,” Solatorio said.
Based on the data released by the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU) of Department of Health (DOH) recently, there is a total of 1,121 cases, including five deaths in the region.
The cases were mostly from Oriental Mindoro with 511 cases including three deaths, followed by Palawan with 350 cases and one death, Occidental Mindoro with 116 cases, 99 cases with one death in Marinduque and 44 in Romblon.
