Bulacan taps schools in fight against dengue

CITY OF MALOLOS—The Bulacan provincial government has asked the Department of Education (DepEd) to reactivate its dengue school watch teams to intensify the campaign on the viral disease that has killed nine people in the province this year.

Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado, in a letter, asked Romeo Alip, Bulacan schools division superintendent, for the cooperation of schools in fighting dengue following the declaration of an outbreak that affected 3,441 people, mostly children, from January to August in the province.

Eight dengue fatalities were recorded in the towns of San Rafael, Pulilan and Angat and the cities of San Jose del Monte and Malolos.

The highest number of reported cases were in San Jose del Monte (549, one death), San Rafael (355, four deaths), Sta. Maria (322), Malolos (284, one death), Bustos (272) and San Miguel (191).

Dr. Jocelyn Gomez, chief of the provincial public health office, said they asked the cooperation of schools since most of the dengue patients were children.

The dengue school watch teams will take the lead in regular cleanup in schools as part of the dengue prevention and control program.

The teams, Alvarado said, would also hold dengue forums for students and parents to boost the information drive on avoiding the mosquito-borne disease.

DepEd was also asked to give instructions to teachers and students to wear long sleeves and knee-high socks, and use insect repellant to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.

Alvarado said the provincial government would start distributing letters this week to remind every Bulakenyo to take necessary steps to fight dengue.

He said the residents and officials should ensure the sanitation of their villages, hospitals and even churches by doing cleanup activities at least once a week.

Officials of San Rafael town, one of the areas with the highest number of dengue cases, have ordered a town-wide cleanup and destruction of breeding areas of mosquitoes.

Ma. Cristina Vergel de Dios, San Rafael health officer, said government workers joined residents in “intensified search and destroy operations” to clear out mosquito nesting sites.

On Monday, Norzagaray Mayor Alfredo Germar met with the town’s health officers and school officials to launch their own cleanup campaign.

In Pangasinan, the number of dengue cases in the province doubled in the last eight months, said Dr. Anna Maria Theresa de Guzman, provincial health officer.

De Guzman said 2,150 dengue patients were admitted in the province’s different hospitals for treatment from January to Sept. 7. This number is higher by 32 percent than the 1,630 dengue cases recorded in the same period last year.

The Department of Health earlier identified Pangasinan, Abra, Bohol and Bulacan as the provinces that experienced a dengue outbreak due to the high number of cases in these areas.

De Guzman said eight people in Pangasinan have died of dengue this year, compared to the lone death recorded last year. Ron Lopez and Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon, and Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon