GENERAL SANTOS CITY - Local health authorities placed a community in Palimbang town in Sultan Kudarat under quarantine following a measles outbreak that already downed at least 70 children in the area.
Palimbang Mayor Abubakar Maulana said personnel from the Department of Health (DoH) and the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Health Office sealed off a portion of Barangay Poblacion in a bid to control the spread of the virus that caused the disease.
"The outbreak has so far slowed down and our health personnel are working double time to stop it from further spreading," he said.
Maulana said they initially monitored the outbreak late last week and confirmed at least 47 cases last Monday.
He said the number of confirmed measles infection rose to at least 70 cases during the last three days but they have not recorded any casualties so far.
"I think the problem is now almost solved and we expect the patients to fully recover within the next few days," the mayor said.
Meanwhile, the local health department in Zamboanga City Friday admitted that cases of dengue continue to increase as it has already claimed 20 lives, mostly children in the City of Flowers.
In Midsayap, North Cotabato, four more kids died of dengue, increasing the death toll to 11 of the highly preventable killer disease in North Cotabato this year.
Seven more dengue cases were reported in the province in July, according to the Provincial Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (PESU).
The Zamboanga City Health Office has recorded the highest number of dengue cases in July with 428 - a figure which had almost led health officials here to declare an outbreak of the disease.
Almost all hospitals in Zamboanga City are filled with patients mostly experiencing dengue symptoms, City Health Officer Rodel Agbulos said Friday.
As this developed, Agbulos warned local residents that if nothing is done in the household level, cases of dengue will continue to rise during this rainy season.
Agbulos reminded local residents to help in the fight against dengue "for this is a concern not only of the local officials and the health office but rather a concern of every Zamboangueño."
"Let us not wait for the city to declare a dengue outbreak before we act. We have to put our acts together in order to fight this health menace by giving it a share in the maintenance of cleanliness in their respective surroundings," Agbulos appealed.
