Dengue cases up by 400 percent in Baguio City

By Dexter A.See

BAGUIO CITY -- Despite reports that dengue cases are starting to decrease, the City Health Services Office here disclosed that the number of dengue fever cases in the city has increased by over 400 percent from January to the present as compared to the same period last year.

Data obtained from the local health department showed the city recorded 850 dengue fever cases from January to the present compared to the only 216 cases recorded by the said office for the same period last year.

At present, there are clustered cases of dengue in nine of the 128 barangays in the city. They are Irisan, Middle Rock Quarry, Atok Trail, Trancoville, Asin, Camp 7, Engineer’s Hill, Kias and Holyghost.

The local health department has responded by conducting a massive information and education campaign so local residents would be aware of how to combat the mosquito-borne disease.

Health officials termed it a 'wake-up call' for local residents to return to the old ways of maintaining cleanliness in their surroundings, which is the best way of destroying breeding grounds for dengue-carrying mosquitoes.