By Hanah Tabios
SAN ANDRES, Catanduanes – The local government here has placed the municipality under state of calamity on Wednesday due to dengue outbreak.
Dr. Marc Sorra conducting an on-site education campaign about dengue prevention and control at Brgy. Carangag, San Andres, Catanduanes, the area where most cases of dengue were recorded as of August 3, 2019. (Photo by Dr. Marc Sorra via Hanah Tabios / MANILA BULLETIN)
San Andres Municipal Council noted that the number of dengue cases has risen to 388, as of August 3. There has been no confirmed death so far.
From data obtained by the Manila Bulletin from the municipality’s Rural Health Unit (RHU) surveillance report, the number of cases spiked from July 1 to 7 with 67 confirmed cases for the week alone. Almost half of the reported patients were male.
The latest figures were higher compared to the 246 total cases recorded by the regional health bureau in the whole province from January 1 to July 13.
Doctor to the Barrio Marc Gregory Sorra, San Andres’ Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Municipal Health Officer recommended to intensify the practice of 4-S strategy such as the supply of additional misting or fogging machines to destroy mosquito breeding sites in the area.
On Tuesday, the Department of Health (DOH) declared a national dengue epidemic amid staggering rate of infection brought by mosquito-borne viral disease.