10 August 2005
Community cleanliness best dengue safeguard
By Danny O. Sagun
PIA-Pangasinan
ENVIRONMENTAL sanitation is still the most effective means to fight the dreaded dengue fever disease, the head of the provincial health team in Pangasinan said Thursday.
Dr. Jose Soriano said that fogging operations cost a lot of money and do not necessarily kill all mosquitoes. “Yong hindi matamaan lumilipat lang sa ibang lugar o barangay,” he noted.
Maintaining cleanliness and sanitation in the neighborhood on the other hand costs practically nothing, but it is the most effective way to control any outbreak, he observed.
Breeding grounds of the day-biting mosquito aedes Aegypti, the carrier of dengue virus, are stagnant water likely found in cans, unused tires, and flower vase. Soriano cited as an example an unused aquarium in a house in Binalonan town that became the breeding ground of mosquitoes. He said two members of that household fell sick of dengue.
Health authorities are again alarmed by the rising incidents of dengue in the province lately. A lone fatality was recorded in Dagupan City. .
Soriano said he has yet to confirm a report that five died of the disease in Sison town. He said that health officers from the province were set to meet Thursday at the health team office at People’s Astrodome to assess the situation.
The sangguniang bayan of Binalonan recently declared the town under state of calamity but Mayor Ramon Guico vetoed the measure noting that the situation there was manageable and not so alarming as to merit such move.
The Region l Medical Center reported a total of 82 dengue cases from the pedia ward alone from January to August 4 with July registering a high 58 cases. The Pangasinan Provincial Hospital in San Carlos City reported 17 cases.
The provincial health office recorded some 63 cases as of July 31 with one fatality from Daguapan City as collated from reports submitted by the various district and community hospitals. The identity of the victim was not immediately known as efforts to get it from concerned agencies proved futile.
Soriano said there is a need to verify such reports by getting the name of the patient and other details as there may be duplication in numbers reporting.
Dr. Jesus Canto, chief of the Region 1 Medical Center in Dagupan City called on residents no to hesitate going to the R1MC once they feel the onset of dengue symptoms like off and on fever for at least five days.
He said dengue is not a viral disease.
The R1MC, Canto said, is the only hospital in Region 1 with a blood separator, assuring itself of a steady supply of blood platelets when most needed by dengue patients.
PIA-Pangasinan
ENVIRONMENTAL sanitation is still the most effective means to fight the dreaded dengue fever disease, the head of the provincial health team in Pangasinan said Thursday.
Dr. Jose Soriano said that fogging operations cost a lot of money and do not necessarily kill all mosquitoes. “Yong hindi matamaan lumilipat lang sa ibang lugar o barangay,” he noted.
Maintaining cleanliness and sanitation in the neighborhood on the other hand costs practically nothing, but it is the most effective way to control any outbreak, he observed.
Breeding grounds of the day-biting mosquito aedes Aegypti, the carrier of dengue virus, are stagnant water likely found in cans, unused tires, and flower vase. Soriano cited as an example an unused aquarium in a house in Binalonan town that became the breeding ground of mosquitoes. He said two members of that household fell sick of dengue.
Health authorities are again alarmed by the rising incidents of dengue in the province lately. A lone fatality was recorded in Dagupan City. .
Soriano said he has yet to confirm a report that five died of the disease in Sison town. He said that health officers from the province were set to meet Thursday at the health team office at People’s Astrodome to assess the situation.
The sangguniang bayan of Binalonan recently declared the town under state of calamity but Mayor Ramon Guico vetoed the measure noting that the situation there was manageable and not so alarming as to merit such move.
The Region l Medical Center reported a total of 82 dengue cases from the pedia ward alone from January to August 4 with July registering a high 58 cases. The Pangasinan Provincial Hospital in San Carlos City reported 17 cases.
The provincial health office recorded some 63 cases as of July 31 with one fatality from Daguapan City as collated from reports submitted by the various district and community hospitals. The identity of the victim was not immediately known as efforts to get it from concerned agencies proved futile.
Soriano said there is a need to verify such reports by getting the name of the patient and other details as there may be duplication in numbers reporting.
Dr. Jesus Canto, chief of the Region 1 Medical Center in Dagupan City called on residents no to hesitate going to the R1MC once they feel the onset of dengue symptoms like off and on fever for at least five days.
He said dengue is not a viral disease.
The R1MC, Canto said, is the only hospital in Region 1 with a blood separator, assuring itself of a steady supply of blood platelets when most needed by dengue patients.
