Quezon City health officer warns of hike in dengue cases

It’s going to get worse before it gets better.

Quezon City health officers have stepped up their information campaign in preparation for a possible upsurge in dengue cases in the coming weeks.

City health officer Dr. Antonieta Inumerable said Tuesday that cases of the mosquito-borne illness usually peak during the months of August and September.

A total of 29 deaths due to dengue have been reported in Quezon City since the start of the year.

“Our sanitary inspectors are constantly making the rounds to ensure cleanliness and hopefully lessen the number of reported cases,” she told the Inquirer.

Inumerable added that she was hoping that the figures would not go up this month until September although she assured residents that express lanes have been set up in hospitals and health centers to attend to
suspected cases.

From January to August 13, 3,447 dengue cases have been reported in the city although Inumerable said this was not enough to declare an epidemic.

“We are at the alert threshold level which is still very far from the epidemic level. It’s still under control,” she told the Inquirer, adding that her office was constantly monitoring the situation in Quezon City.

According to her, the city health department is working overtime with school and community cleanup brigades to make sure that dengue-carrying mosquitoes are eradicated.

“Supervised space spraying is also being conducted in areas with reported dengue cases,” Inumerable added.

The barangays (villages) with the highest number of dengue cases are Bagbag with 188 cases and San Bartolome with 182 cases, both in Novaliches.

In third place is Barangay Commonwealth with 156 cases, followed by Batasan Hills with 155 cases.