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WITH so much domestic attention on the swine flu virus, local health officials reiterated that dengue remains a serious threat to the community's health as evidenced by the 310 cases they recorded since January this year.
The Cebu City Epidemiology Statistics and Surveillance Unit of the City Health Department (CHD) said it recorded eight deaths since the start of the year, with one death caused by dengue out of 32 cases last month.
While the number of cases of A H1N1 virus or swine flu virus had not yet resulted in deaths, its presence in the country has compelled officials of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to delay the opening of classes in colleges and universities to next week.
City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, action officer of the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council (CCDCC), said the numbers only meant that dengue remains the more serious health threat to Cebu City residents.
The eight deaths caused by dengue for the first five months of the year is lower than the 25 fatalities recorded for the same period last year. June was declared as dengue awareness month by the national government.
Carillo said a joint information campaign on dengue and the swine flu virus is ongoing in various barangays of Cebu City.
The city also organized school-based “pulong-pulong” or barangay hall meeting as part of their campaign.
The meetings were held in barangays Kamputhaw, Labangon, Lorega, Carreta and Guadalupe.
These meetings were also held in schools like the Florencio Urot Memorial National Highschool, Ramon Duterte Memorial National High School, University of Cebu-main campus, Abellana National High School, Guadalupe Elementary School, Don Sergio Osmeña Sr. Memorial High School and Tejero School.
City health teams follow up the information campaigns on campuses with mist spraying on school grounds identified as possible breeding grounds for dengue-carrying mosquitoes. /Reporter Marian Z. Codilla
