*PGIN quickly acts to combat the dengue menace
The Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte through the Provincial Health Office has distributed Dengue NS1Ag to the different district hospitals and rural health units in the province owing to the alarming number of dengue cases here.
PHO officials said the Dengue NS1Ag is an early dengue diagnostic predictor, larvicides, and insecticides, used as a preventive measure against possible dengue outbreak.
This is in response to the “National Health Emergency” declaration of the Department of Health on July 20 following the recorded nationwide deaths of at least 491 patients due to the mosquito-borne disease in the country
Last July 15, the Ilocos Region was among those closely monitored by the DOH for exceeding the dengue alert threshold.
As of July 3, DOH record showed that there were 353 dengue cases in Ilocos Norte citing zero casualties.
However, an 18.9% increase was noted compared to last year’s recorded cases.
It clarified that the alleged outbreak in the Ilocos province was confined to specific barangays only and not the whole province.
Most of the cases were recorded in Laoag City (94), Badoc (43), Batac City (29), Pagudpud (21), and Dingras (20).
According to Dr. Josephine Ruedas, Officer-in-Charge of the PHO, some patients were still confined at the Roque B. Ablan Sr. Memorial Hospital (7), Doña Josefa Edralin Marcos District Hospital (2), Dingras District Hospital (4), and Bangui District Hospital (4).
At press time, the PHO had a meeting with the Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (RESU) attended by Rural Health Sanitary Inspectors, Provincial Epidemiology Surveillance Unit staff and Provincial DOH Office staff.
Dr. Rosario Pamintuan, RESU head, emphasized the importance of “information dissemination and surveillance” campaign to combat the dengue menace.
As campaign tips, the DOH cited the 4-S strategy: “Search and destroy” all mosquito-breeding sites, employ “Self-protection measures”, “Seek early consultation”, and “Support fogging/spraying” only in hotspot areas where increased dengue cases are registered for two consecutive weeks.
So far, the PHO had lent fogging machines to the different LGUs to further bolster the province’s preventive measures against the dreaded dengue virus.—(Edison Justin B. Deus, PGIN-CMO)
