City residents urged to guard vs mosquitos

CEBU City officials are urging the public to be vigilant against mosquito bites, given the positive Zika virus cases reported in Cebu.

Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella is also asking officials from the Bureau of Quarantine to check people coming to and from the province.

“Since we already have a reported case, I think quarantine officials, especially in seaports and airports, should double their efforts in checking those coming from outside Cebu,” he told reporters yesterday.

He also encouraged the City Health Department (CHD) to coordinate with the Department of Health (DOH) in undertaking preventive measures to stop the spread of the virus.

Although he says the reported case should not be considered alarming, this is already a good reason for officials to be on guard.

CHD Head Dr. Alma Corpin encouraged the public to continue to look out for mosquitoes, just as what is being done to prevent dengue.

“Especially for pregnant women, if they experience symptoms of Zika virus like fever and rashes, they should immediately have themselves examined by doctors,” she said.

The main complication caused by the Zika virus is the abnormality of the size of the head of the babies of pregnant women who get infected. This is caused by incomplete brain development caused by the virus.

For the rest of the public, Corpin said the best thing to do is still to prevent the presence and the spread of mosquitoes especially at home by preventing stagnant water to accumulate and to clean the surroundings.

She said CHD will continue and even intensify its efforts which include search and destroy operations in the city’s 80 barangays in order to remove habitats of mosquitoes and their larvae.

Other efforts include larvicidal and curtain impregnation operations.

Corpin said they are already coordinating with the DOH in investigating the latest reported Zika virus case in Cebu City.