BAGUIO CITY – A ten-year-old boy from Barangay City Camp Central is this city’s first registered fatality from dengue this year.
Dr. Rowena Galpo, city health officer, said the victim had fever on June 16 and was brought to the hospital. He died on June 27 and the cause of death was determined to be dengue and pneumonic effusion or water in the lungs.
The City Health Services Office (CHSO) said that 19 dengue cases were reported from June 25 to 27 and 611 dengue cases from January to June 27 this year, 106 percent higher compared to the 282 in the same period in 2021.
Galpo reported during the management committee meeting that possible reasons for the increase in dengue cases are poor container management such as improper disposal of cans, bottles, old tires, and coconut shells; lack of water, therefore, people tend to store water in containers such as drums, buckets, and tanks without them being covered properly; high mobility of infected people causing the spread of dengue mosquitoes by transportation on land, air, and water; four serotypes of dengue virus; and cyclic occurrence of dengue where cases increase every three years.
One of the measures to stop dengue here is the "Denguerra!" (war against dengue) campaign launched by the CHSO that encourages residents to find and destroy mosquito breeding grounds in their areas every Thursday from 8 p.m. until 12 noon.