Dengue cases on down trend

DESPITE an intensive dengue awareness campaign, Cebu and the rest of Central Visayas won’t be dengue-free at least in the near future, health authorities said.

Rennan Cimafranca, Regional Epidemiological Surveillance Unit (RESU) chief, said they recorded 12,370 cases with 41 deaths as of Sept. 13 this year, compared to 11, 667 cases with 54 deaths in the same period last year.

“But there is now a down trend. It’s only following the usual pattern wherein cases decrease when it is not rainy. It will only go up if it’s raining,” Cimafranca said.

He said their records show that most dengue victims were under 6 to 10 years old and majority of the cases were from Cebu City with 2,517 cases followed by Dumaguete City with 876 cases and Lapu-Lapu City with 560 cases.

Carcar is fourth with 407 cases and Talisay City has 393 dengue cases. Earlier Dr. Wyben Briones, who chairs a private sector chaired anti-dengue task force, said Cebu recorded only one case. Dengue is endemic in Cebu. There is no such thing as Cebu being generally-free of dengue,” Cimafranca said.

He said the community itself should be aware of their responsibilities to address the rise of dengue cases in the province.

“Dengue won’t go away so long as there are breeding grounds for mosquitoes like containers filled with water,” Cimafranca said. Reporter Joy Cherry S. Quito