Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan denied that there is a dengue outbreak in the city of Manila.
But Lacuna-Pangan tasked the Manila Health Department (MHD) headed by Dr. Arnold Pangan, barangay officials and district hospital chiefs to intensify their preventive measures against dengue.
"Guided by the Dengue Surveillance Report by the Manila Health Department, I have instructed the MHD and the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office to deploy additional anti-mosquito larvae (larvicide) kits to barangays where a rise in dengue cases has been observed. We also have intensified misting operations,” the mayor added.
She said it is clear that there is no dengue outbreak in Manila as its case fatality rate stands at just 0.62 percent and its attack rate is only 7.18 percent.
An attack rate of 10 to 100 per 10,000 population is considered high, particularly when sustained over time or occurring in a densely populated area.
"Ang kabuuang bilang ng barangay dito sa Maynila ay 897. Ang total population ng Maynila ay nasa 1.91 million. Kaya kung ibabangga dito ang bilang ng dengue cases sa buong lungsod, malinaw na malayung-malayo ang Maynila sa “outbreak” level (The total number of barangays here in Manila is 897. The total population of Manila is 1.91 million. So if you compare the number of dengue cases in the whole city, it is clear that the city is very far from the outbreak" level)," she stated.
She said that out of the 897 barangays in Manila, 25 were found with clustering or increase in the number of dengue cases, and most of those hit are aged five to 39.
Areas with the highest number of cases are Districts 1, 5, and 6.
Four were reported to have died and three of them are from District 3.
A total of 51 barangays were subjected to misting as of Feb 14.
"Ligtas sa ngayon ang buong lungsod sa panganib ng dengue, ngunit hindi tayo nagpapaka-kampante. Bagkus, daragdagan pa nga natin ang mga supply ng gamot at vitamins sa mga health centers at super health centers, upang mapalakas ang resistensya ng mga residente (The entire city is now safe from the danger of dengue, but we are not complacent. On the contrary, we will even increase the supplies of medicine and vitamins in health centers and super health centers, to strengthen the resistance of the residents)," the lady mayor added.
The lady mayor said she has also directed the health center personnel, barangay health workers, nutrition scholars, and sanitation specialists to include in the search-and-destroy efforts against mosquitoes all tires atop the roofs of some houses in the city which were turned into mini gardens, noting that they trap rainwater and easily turn into breeding places for dengue-carrying mosquitoes.