The City of Parañaque has been placed under state of calamity due to a dengue outbreak, Mayor Edwin Olivarez announced Monday.
The state of calamity was declared after the City Health Office issued a memo dated Sept. 18 confirming that the city “is now in an epidemic status” with three deaths, and the number of dengue cases rising to 1,702 for the period Jan. 1 to Sept. 14, 45 percent higher than the same period last year.
Olivarez ordered the City Health Office to intensify the implementation of the Department of Health’s 4-S Campaign—Self-Protection, Search and destroy mosquito-breeding sites, Seek early consultation and Support fogging and spraying.
“The enhanced 4-S implementation calls for everyone to become prime movers in controlling mosquito population and avoiding any possible dengue deaths within the community,” Olivarez said.
The mayor said communities are encouraged to do the cleanup daily to destroy possible breeding sites such as laundry tanks, uncovered tanks and cisterns, drums and barrels, discarded buckets and other containers.
Parañaque is ranked fourth among the cities in the National Capital Region with the highest number of dengue cases and second with the highest “attack rate.”
The Department of Health last month declared a national dengue epidemic due to rapid spikes in cases across different regions. The country has recorded 622 deaths and 146,000 cases from the start of the year until July 20.
Dengue is preventable and can be controlled if detected early. Signs and symptoms include severe headache, pain behind the eyes, severe joint and muscle pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and skin rashes.
Also on Monday, Save the Children Philippines called on communities to support the government’s immunization campaign for babies and children amid the reemergence of polio disease after 19 years.
The DOH on Thursday declared a polio outbreak, three days after a polio virus case was confirmed in a three-year-old girl from Lanao Del Sur. A second polio virus case was confirmed in a 5-year-old boy in Laguna.