Villagers go on holiday in dengue drive

KNOCK DOWN An operator uses a fogging machine to destroy mosquito breeding places during cleanup operations on Friday, a special nonworking holiday in Isabela. —VILLAMOR VISAYA JR.

CITY OF ILAGAN—About 5,000 villagers here on Friday went out of their homes and joined a province-wide cleanup campaign to prevent an outbreak of dengue fever that has gripped the country.

Volunteers from various organizations, schools and the local government targeted clogged canals and waterways, the common breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Gov. Rodolfo Albano III issued an executive order calling for the holiday to give way to cleanup and fogging operations to stop the spread of dengue fever and other mosquito-borne diseases.

The provincial government is leading an antidengue drive called “Todas Dengue, Todo na ‘to” that encourages residents to participate in cleanup operations in their villages, said Dr. Rio Magpantay, Cagayan Valley regional health director.

“Cleaning is the best way to fight dengue [and through it] we are helping our government,” he said.

According to Magpantay, at least 6,434 cases of dengue fever with 24 deaths were reported in the region from January to July 15.

At the national level, 450 deaths and more than 100,000 cases were reported in the past six months, an 85-percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Magpantay said dengue emergency measures included destroying mosquito breeding places through tree pruning or trimming, cleaning of canals and declogging of waterways to eliminate obstructions that cause flooding.

Dengue fever cases rapidly increase during rainy days as breeding grounds of female mosquitoes abound such as on stagnant water containers and tires, Magpantay said.

Zamboanga victim

In Zamboanga del Sur province, a pregnant mother died of dengue on Tuesday at Barangay Monte Alegre in Aurora town.

Nonette Sabasales, 23, died at the Mayor Hilarion A. Ramiro Sr. Medical Center in Ozamiz City after a four-day bout with the disease.

At the time of her dengue infection, Sabasales was seven months pregnant.

According to her mother, Jenelia Sabasales, Nonette first had a high fever, then experienced joint pains as rashes also showed throughout her body. She also suffered from diarrhea.

She was first rushed to the Lanao del Norte Provincial Hospital in Baroy, Lanao del Norte, then transferred to Ozamiz City on the advice of doctors who said her pregnancy was complicating her situation, the mother said.

On Tuesday, Sabasales said she was informed that the baby in Nonette’s womb died. Nonette died later in the evening. —REPORTS FROM VILLAMOR VISAYA JR. AND LEAH AGONOY