ANTI-DENGUE DRIVE. Personnel of the Zamboanga City Health Office launch Wednesday (April 20, 2022) mobile and house-to-house campaign on dengue prevention and control as the city continues to battle a dengue outbreak. The city currently has 14 dengue fatalities. (Photo courtesy of Maria Christine Lim/Zamboanga CHO)
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Local health workers have initiated the mobile and house-to-house campaign on dengue prevention and control as the city continues to battle a dengue outbreak amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
The house-to-house awareness campaign started Wednesday in Barangay Lanzones, where City Health Office (CHO) workers posted information and education communication (IEC) materials containing anti-dengue key messages.
Maria Christine Lim, CHO education and promotion officer, said the campaign aims "to serve as a wake call to other villages" on the dangers of dengue.
She advised the health workers assigned in other barangays, especially those with high cases, to replicate the mobile and house-to-house advocacy to prevent the spread of the dengue cases.
In a separate interview, Dr. Dulce Amor Miravite, CHO chief, said the number of dengue cases has continued to epidemic threshold.
The CHO has so far recorded 1,135 cases with 14 deaths since January.
On April 8, the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (CDRRMC) chaired by Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar declared a dengue outbreak in the city.
CHO records showed that Barangay San Roque has logged 76 cases, topping the list of top 10 barangays with the greatest number of cases together with Sta. Maria with 74, Tetuan (73), Putik (63), Mercedes (61), Pasonanca (52), Calarian (43), Tumaga (43), Boalan (42), and Divisoria (37).
Barangay Tetuan recorded three dengue-related deaths, followed by Barangays Camino Nuevo and Mercedes with two each, while Bolong, Tictapul, Buenavista, Sta. Catalina, Tagasilay and Tumaga record one death each.
Most of the dengue fatalities are from the 20-year-old and below age group.
Dengue is a viral infection transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes called Aedes aegypti, which usually bite between two hours after sunrise and two hours before sunset.
The disease's most common symptoms include high fever, nausea, vomiting, rashes, aches, and pains, like eye pain or typically behind the eyes, muscle, joints, or bones. (PNA)
