OZAMIZ CITY, Misamis Occidental, Philippines — Unlike other areas in the country, this city in Misamis Occidental province has been winning its battle against the mosquito-borne disease dengue, with a 60-percent drop noted in the number of cases from January to July this year compared to the same period in 2018.
Paul Singh, supervising administrative officer at the city health office, said the city focused on prevention and early detection and treatment, aided by a massive information campaign and community participation, to fight dengue.
“These measures were nothing new … Persistence and focus made these produce good results for us,” he said.
From January to July this year, 333 dengue cases had been recorded in the city, lower than the 833 cases in the same period last year, said Brixlyjun Go, the city’s dengue prevention and control program coordinator.
Go said Ozamiz, this year, had not recorded dengue-related deaths. Last year, 13 people, most of them school children, had died of dengue infection.
“The earlier a patient avails of medical attention, the faster the recovery and the lesser the probability of dying,” said Singh, a nurse. “Most of those who died last year were patients who were late in seeking treatment.”
Singh said the city health office had been stressing the need for early detection and treatment in their information dissemination campaign.
“If one has fever, we asked that they immediately consult the health center or the school clinic or the nearest hospital to increase our degree of detection of new infections,” he added, noting that consultations were free.
Drumming up message
The call for early detection and treatment had been taken to communities by vehicles blaring a prerecorded message on dengue.
Included in the information package was a call for the community to destroy breeding grounds of mosquitoes.
“That was the most important message as it underpinned the prevention pillar which, in turn, is the bedrock of our entire fight against dengue,” Singh said.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito, which breeds in stagnant water, is the main vector that transmits the dengue virus.
Fear factor
A massive information drive had been taken to 30 of the city’s 51 barangays, where dengue cases had been noted. Community meetings were held at every “purok” (subvillage) which were followed by cleanup drives.
These sessions involved elected officials, police, Army, health workers, leaders of civic groups, all exhorting people to do their share in the fight against dengue.
“Back then, we drummed up the idea that the cleanliness in every household means the safety of the community from dengue,” Singh said.
“Cooperation hit a slow start. But when we brought out the details of dengue deaths, the fear factor moved people to action,” he said.
Kiddie brigade
The campaign was also taken to schools in the city, focusing on the top 20 areas with high infection rates.
With the consent of the Department of Education, insecticide-treated nets were installed in windows in these schools with parents leading the effort.
These schools also organized the “Little Dengue Brigade,” composed of pupils from Grades 4 to 6 who led cleanup activities on campuses.
Sephora Samson, a teacher at Andrea Costonera Elementary School in Barangay Aguada, said the brigade’s members visited every classroom to check water containers and all possible mosquito breeding sites.
Barangay Aguada, including its elementary school, was a dengue hot spot last year. Today, not one among its more than 500 students was infected with dengue, city health office records showed.