MindanaoToday.com | Misor reactivates dengue fast lanes
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Provincial Health Office (PHO) of Misamis Oriental announced on Thursday, September 12, dengue fast lanes in its eight hospitals have been revived due to rising cases of mosquito-borne viral disease which, if not attended at once, could be fatal.
Prompted by 3,225 dengue cases, including 25 deaths, on the 37th morbidity week this year, a Code White Alert has been issued in the province to ensure all hospital personnel are on standby for deployment and augmentation for medical and other services once necessary. The province posted 1,975 dengue cases with 21 fatalities last year.
PHO head Teodoro Yu Jr., gave these updates in a Kapihan sa PIA forum at the Limketkai Center even as he admitted the surge of dengue cases is alarming. Dengue outbreaks, he said, follow a three-to-five-year epidemiological pattern and it was in 2019 when over 5,000 infections were recorded.
Other than the dengue peak cycle, Yu said climate change may have altered the dry-and-wet season weather pattern and could have triggered a modification of the mosquito four-stage life-cycle where adults could be formed from eggs, larvae, and pupae faster than the usual five to seven days.
These, he said, are integrated in their information dissemination activities in schools and villages reminding students, school and community leaders to observe the 5S in the anti-dengue campaign—search and destroy, self-protection, seek early treatment, supporting fogging once necessary, and stay hydrated.
Yu said they have created anti-dengue task forces at the provincial, municipal, and village levels to help in the campaign, emphasizing that combatting the viral deadly disease is everyone’s concern. He urged every household to do regular cleaning and avoid water storing in uncovered containers.
The anti-dengue activities also include fogging and misting, distribution of adulticides and larvicides, as well as insecticide-treated screens to schools and mosquito nets in selected households in places where clustering of cases have been confirmed. These vector-control commodities were supplied by the Department of Health through its regional office in Northern Mindanao to the Misamis Oriental PHO.
Clean-up drives—search and destroy—must be done not just monthly, but weekly and even daily especially in places where clustering of dengue infections have been observed, referring to the top three municipalities with relatively high number of confirmed cases of the 23 towns and two component cities.
The landlocked town of Claveria has logged in 355 dengue cases, followed by the municipality of Tagoloan with 333, and Gingoog City with 261. Among those with multiple fatalities are Tagoloan 5, Jasaan 4, and Opol 3.
The PHO head said ages of dengue patients in the province range from months old to 53 years, but most of the dengue patients are below five years—the most vulnerable age-group because they may not be aware Aedes aegypti mosquito has pricked their skin and sucked their blood.
“Many of them are too young to complain, likely they may have not learned to talk,” the acting provincial health officer lamented. Using insect or mosquito repellents could help, but there is no substitute to killing them, he added.
Yu said all those who died due to dengue infections were covered by death certificates issued by hospitals.
He said patients with recurring fever for a day or two must immediately be brought to medical facilities for consultations because the possibility that this is caused by dengue infection is high. About half of those admitted in provincial hospitals are due to dengue.
The designation of dengue fast lanes is intended to facilitate prompt diagnosis and treatment of suspected dengue patients, according to the Department of Health (DOH). This requires retraining of medical personnel involved in the management of dengue cases focused on detection, appropriate triage, and treatment according to established guidelines.
Dengue fast lanes, the DOH said, must have adequate supply of intravenous fluids, diagnostic tools such as dengue rapid diagnostic tests (RDT), and essential medications must be readily available for patient care. It also requires hospitals and other health facilities to strictly adhere to established reporting protocols to ensure accurate and timely reporting of dengue cases to epidemiology and surveillance units.
These dengue fast lanes are in the Misamis Oriental Provincial Hospitals (MOPH) that are located in the municipalities of Alubijid, Balingasag, Initao, Magsaysay, Manticao, Medina, Talisayan, and the city of Gingoog. There are also two local-government managed hospitals, 23 rural health units, and 410 barangay health stations in the province. (MT)
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