South Cotabato breaches epidemic threshold for dengue

KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 14 March) – South Cotabato province has exceeded the epidemic threshold for the deadly dengue fever as it logged an average of 100 cases per week since January.

The dengue-carrying Aedes egypti mosquito, so full. MindaNews file photo by BOBBY TIMONERA

Eldon Hans Serame, health education promotions officer of the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO), said on Friday dengue cases in the province have continued to increase at an “alarming” rate in the past several weeks, reaching a total of 917 and with one related death as of March 1.

Such figure was 23 percent higher than the 745 cases recorded in the same period last year as reported by the IPHO’s epidemiology and surveillance unit.

Tantangan town posted the highest increase in dengue cases with 113 percent or from 23 in 2024 to 49 so far this year, followed by Sto. Nino with 106 percent or from 17 to 35 cases, and Polomolok with 85 percent or from 93 to 172 cases.

This city recorded the most number of cases during the period with 255, increasing by 78 percent from last year’s 144 cases.

“Our (dengue) cases have not been going down and we already exceeded the epidemic threshold in the last six to seven weeks,” Serame said in Gov. Reynaldo S. Tamayo Jr.’s weekly radio program “RST in Action.”

Serame said they are closely monitoring at least 10 barangays in this city and five other municipalities that are considered as dengue hotspots.

IPHO said a barangay or community is considered a dengue hotspot if there is a clustering of cases and infections are continually increasing in at least two weeks.

The clustering of dengue is noted if there are three or more cases in a community or barangay in four consecutive weeks.

Considered as dengue hotspots are Barangays General Paulino Santos, Morales and Sta. Cruz in Koronadal City; Pagalungan and Poblacion in Polomolok; Dajay and Libertad in Surallah; Poblacion in Norala; M. Roxas in Sto. Nino; and, Poblacion in Tantangan.  

Serame urged the full cooperation of the public to combat the spread of the mosquito-borne disease and prevent more deaths.

He reiterated the practice of the 4S strategy, which stands for search and destroy mosquito breeding places; self-protection measures like wearing long pants and long-sleeved shirt and use of mosquito repellant; seek early consultation; and, support spraying or fogging.

The provincial government adopted the Department of Health’s “Alas Kwatro, Kontra Mosquito!” campaign to clean up breeding places of dengue-carrying mosquitoes in its workplaces every Monday at 4pm. “Our target is to bring down the cases of dengue (from epidemic) to alert threshold by the end of March…our focus right now is not just in the hotspot areas but the entire province,” he added. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)