Anti-dengue spray teams deployed in 5 Cebu City barangays

THE Cebu City Health Department (CHD) conducted misting operations in five barangays yesterday as part of the anti-dengue campaign.

Dr. Daisy Villa, CHD officer-in-charge, said they were alarmed by the increase in dengue cases this year. As of September, CHD recorded 831 cases compared to 763 cases in the same period last year.

The mosquito-borne disease claimed the lives of two sisters in barangay Suba last week.

In Lapu-Lapu City, a child from barangay Canjulao died this month, said Dr. Rodulfo Berame, Lapu-Lapu City Health Office head.

Berame said they have been continuously holding clean-up campaigns as part of efforts to eradicate dengue but some residents have refused to cooperate.

Villa, for her part, said they have not slackened anti-dengue efforts.

“Wala gyod (Never). In fact, we have been doing larviciding in the barangays,” she said. Larviciding is the use of chemicals against the larvae of mosquitoes in their breeding habitat.

“Our inspectors have also been conducting environmental surveys,” she added.

The CHD deployed five teams yesterday to conduct misting activities in Pasil, Suba, Pahina San Nicholas, Tisa and Guadalupe.

These barangays are among those with the highest number of dengue cases in the city.

As of September this year, Guadalupe has the highest incidence of 96 cases, more than three times the 27 cases it logged last year.

Villa said they have been coordinating with the barangay officials in the conduct of misting operations.

In Pasil, barangay captain Julius Gubio said the students and teachers of Pasil Elementary School also conducted a clean-up drive inside the school premises.

Sisters Mary Angeline Petallar, 5, and Rianne Abegail, 8, were grade school pupils in Pasil Elementary School. They died of dengue shock last Friday.

Gubio wasn’t convinced, however, that the sisters contracted the disease at the school.

“We’d like to know where the mosquitoes came from. We have had dengue cases, but it’s only now that two siblings died. There were also fewer cases last year,” Gubio said in Cebuano.

He urged residents to keep their surroundings clean.

“I’ve noticed that they clean their surroundings only in the morning. We also have to educate the residents on how to properly dispose of their wastes,” he added.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama will meet with the CHD today and other relevant agencies to discuss the increase in dengue cases.

In Lapu-Lapu City, Berame said preventive measures against dengue include the distribution of chemicals and mosquito nets.

Curtains are soaked in chemicals overnight and left in strategic areas to serve as mosquito repellent.

“We have also continued conducting ‘search and destroy’ operations, targeting open containers with water, which are ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes,” he said.