A resident of Tagbilaran City, Bohol makes sure water containers are properly covered to get rid of mosquitoes looking for breeding sites. (Leo Udtohan/Inquirer Visayas)
TAGBILARAN CITY—The Bohol Provincial Health Office (PHO) has recorded a significant increase in cases of dengue fever in the province.
Dr. Cesar Tomas Lopez, PHO officer-in-charge, on Thursday, May 19, said the province recorded 521 dengue cases although no one died from it from January to May 2022.
In 2021, the PHO only recorded 95 dengue cases with one death.
“This means (there’s) an increase of 448.4 percent in the number of cases,” Lopez said.
Most of the individuals who caught the virus were children.
“If people remain complacent, there might be a dengue epidemic this year,” Lopez warned.
He said there is a need to reactivate and strengthen the Barangay Dengue Brigades for house-to-house sanitation, including the “search and destroy” strategy to get rid of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
Health officials said aedes aegypti breeds in indoor and outdoor settings in a wide variety of natural and artificial water-holding containers such as plastic bottles, plastic tanks, leaves, water storage jars, cement tanks, flower vases, and tyres.
There is no specific treatment for dengue fever but early detection and access to proper medical care lowers fatality rates below one percent.
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