DIGOS CITY - Following the rise of dengue cases here that claimed 10 lives, Mayor Joseph Penas will seek the approval of a resolution placing the city under a state of a calamity before a special session of the city council to be held this Friday. In an interview, Penas said the number of dengue cases in the city has risen to 352. "Hospitals here are already filled with patients affected with dengue. We have reached an alarming level and we have to act now to prevent further deaths," he said.
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Once approved, the city will allocate up to P1 million of their calamity fund for prevention, to provide assistance to those afflicted, information dissemination and educating communities about dengue, he said. Penas said barangays with high number of dengue cases, including Tres de Mayo, Aplaya, and Zones 1, 2, and 3, will get priority in the allocation of funds and other assistance. "We appealed to the Davao del Sur Medical Society to help us in this endeavor," he said. The City Health Office said that 21 of 26 barangays here have cases of dengue. From January to June, this year, 59 dengue cases were recorded in Tres de Mayo; 21 in Zones 1; 14 in Zone 2; 47 in Zone 3; 39 in Aplaya; 10 in San Jose; 9 in San Miguel and Cogon, and 3 in Soong.
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Based on the records from the Provincial Health Office, Digos City has the most number of dengue cases with 352 as of early this month, followed by Bansalan with 95. The province now has a total of 600 dengue cases and 14 deaths; 10 in Digos; three in Bansalan and one in Malalag. Riza Dacalos, provincial malaria coordinator, said the Dengue Task Force created last Monday will prioritize the city. "Since the city has the most number of dengue cases, we will gather data here first," she said. Meanwhile, the Department of Health Region 10 office has identified Bukidnon province as a "dengue hot spot" after noting a 1,000 percent increase in dengue cases in a month. Dr. David Mendoza, head of the regional surveillance unit, said 517 dengue cases were recorded in the big hospitals, compared with 47 cases recorded in the same month last year. "We are now conducting clustering (of data) of these towns in the province based on other factors," he said.
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In a related development, health officials declared an outbreak of malaria cases in Barangay Gumitan, Davao City but assured residents that the situation is under control and medicines have been distributed to affected communities. Antonietta Ebol, regional malaria coordinator of the Center for Health Development (CHD) in Davao, said blood smear tests were conducted last June 22 among Gumitan residents following the death of a 28-year-old male teacher found positive for the disease. The smear tests were sent to the CHD and 98 individuals were confirmed positive for malaria. Out of the total number, 48 were children. According to Ebol, Barangay Gumitan is the farthest village in Marilog district of Davao City near the border of Bukidnon province.
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"We have already declared it an outbreak because last year, there was no reported case of malaria in the area... In Davao City, there are two out of 16 districts where malaria is endemic. These are Marilog district and Pakibato district bordering Davao del Norte," Ebol said in an interview. "The situation is in control. We have mobilized two teams and they already went to the affected barangay. The second team went there last July 5 after the initial investigation which was last June 22.
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They brought anti-malaria drugs, insecticide-treated nets, insecticide sprays and rapid diagnostic tests to immediately detect the malaria specie that affected a patient within 15 minutes." (With a report from Jenny F. Manongdo)
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