MORE NEWS, ILOCOS SUR

Eight persons die of dengue in Ilocos Sur
BY FREDDIE G. LAZARO

VIGAN CITY - - Eight persons recently died in Ilocos Sur due to dengue.
Rogelio Varilla, provincial malaria and dengue operation officer bared this saying fatalities were mostly children.

They were from Vigan City, San Juan, Bantay, Sta. Catalina, Caoayan, Narvacan, Sta. Maria, and Santiago. Their deaths covered the past nine months to date.

"As of the second week of September, the occurrence of dengue fever in the province is not yet an outbreak or alarming because of the scattered locations of the casualties,” Varilla said. “We considered an outbreak of the dengue virus when a clustered area was massively affected."

"However, we are presently conducting massive campaigns on the "4S" strategy to prevent the upsurge of the dengue fever throughout the province," he said.

He disclosed that "4S" means search and destroy of breeding places of mosquitoes; Self protection measures by wearing long sleeves shirt, mosquito nets and fly repellant;

Seek early consultation specifically when fever occurs; and say "no" to indiscriminate fogging in which fogging operations will only be advisable when dengue outbreak occurred in an specific place.

"We are intensifying the environmental sanitation through massive community participation considering that this is the most effective and most economical way to control and prevent the spread of the dengue virus," he added.

In 2006, the Ilocos Sur’s provincial health and technology office recorded a total of 181 dengue cases with three casualties from the 24 towns and two cities.

It was topped by Candon City with 45 dengue cases; followed by Santiago with 29 cases, including two casualties; Tagudin with 16 cases; Alilem with 16 cases including 1 casualty; and the rest had below 10 cases.

For this year, from January to the second week of September, the PHTO recorded a total of 160 dengue cases from the two cities and 20 towns in the province such as Vigan City with 31 cases including 1 casualty; Sta. Maria with 26 cases including 1 casualty; Bantay with 15 cases including 1 casualty; San Esteban with 15; Santa with 12; Narvacan with 10 including 1 casualty, and the other towns and city had below ten cases.

In both years, the bulk of the dengue cases in the province appeared during the months of July, August, and September or during the rainy season.

"We are expecting more dengue cases by the end of this year because the rainy season is not yet over," Varilla disclosed.

Meanwhile, Barangay Captain Felicissimo Artajos of Barangay Pagburnayan, Vigan City led his constituents in "Operation: Taob" to prevent and control the prevalence of dengue fever causing mosquitoes.

"All stagnant waters in cans, tires and other materials are removed to discourage the reproduction and laying of eggs by mosquitoes," Artajos said.

Dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever are acute febrile diseases found in the tropics and are caused by any of the dengue family of viruses. The mosquitoes that transmit dengue live among humans and breed in discarded tires, flower pots, old oil drums, and water storage containers close to human dwellings.


Army denies conspiracy to overthrow government

NARVACAN, Ilocos Sur -- Troops in Northern Luzon are not involved in any move to destabilize or overthrow the government, the region’s military commander said Sep. 23.

In a statement, Lt. Gen. Rodrigo Maclang, Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command chief, said soldiers under his command are not being recruited for any anti-government effort.

“As far as our troops in the Northern Luzon and Central Luzon are concerned, our loyalty belongs to the Constitution,” he said.

“We have not been and never will be a party to any attempts to destabilize or overthrow the government.”

“I have been doing rounds of visits to all our units in Regions 1, 2, 3 and the Cordillera Administrative Region to review their performance, uplift the morale of the troops and ensure their adherence to the Constitution.”

Maclang said his men remain cohesive and focused on the mandated mission, and that any attempt to destabilize or overthrow the government would no longer prosper.

“They have already grown tired of any overtures or any attempts that would drive a wedge with their ranks,” he said.

“They pledged to reject any recruitment, just like in the past, by destabilizers who are only interested in pursuing their selfish political agenda.”

Reports said some “disgruntled factions” in the military out to destabilize the administration and oust President Arroyo are capitalizing on the controversial national broadband network project.

The Nolcom covers the regions Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Cordillera and Central Luzon.

It had been the favorite recruitment base of coup plotters,

Last week, at least six military officers were relieved for alleged involvement in a new attempt to destabilize the government, according to Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon.