DENGUE cases in Davao City this year dropped to 677 from 1,376 cases in the same period last year as the City Health Office (CHO) intensified its anti-dengue campaign in dengue-prone barangays since January.
CHO Chief Josephine Villafuerte said the comparison of the data is based on the January to May dengue status report made by their office last week.
The decrease of dengue patients, Villafuerte said, connotes the effectiveness of their campaign that started last January which included the Indoor Residual Spraying method, an application of long-acting chemical insecticides on the walls and roofs of all houses and domestic animal shelters in a given area, fogging method and cleaning of breeding sites.
"The dengue-prone areas in the city remained the same as last year - Buhangin, Talomo, and Toril," Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte said they have also piloted the formation of a Dengue Taskforce in Barangay Maa on Wednesday, June 14.
She said the task force will regularly monitor all houses inside the community and see if there are possible breeding sites to immediately clean the area and report to CHO if a fogging and IRS is needed.
She added that they will be implementing this throughout the city after an evaluation is done.
"Prevention and control of dengue is in your hands. Take the initiative to destroy the breeding sites in your house and to constantly clean your surroundings," Villafuerte said. (BSC)