JUST as typhoons and monsoons give
way to a cold and dry season at this
time of the year, the Department of
Health has again raised the alert on
dengue fever. Outbreaks have been reported in Manila and
Pangasinan.
Baguio, which received a rude awakening last year, has made
itself fully armed against dengue. Short of putting a giant
mosquito net over the city, the city has decided to deploy its
new weapon.
DR. Antonio Bautista, medical specialist for the Department of
Health in Baguio City, said that despite the screaming headlines
in local papers on dengue fatalities in the city, one group
refused to believe there is an epidemic.
According to him, the Baguio-Benguet chapter of the Philippine
Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP) based its contention on
the lack of local epidemiologic data about the mosquito-borne
disease.
''They (chapter members) only believed when some of their
patients became sick of dengue,'' Bautista said. ''And when they
did believe, they became our most active weapon against
dengue.''
In fact, the PAFP chapter, under Dr. William Occidental,
formulated a dengue-prevention program which won first prize
in the environmental protection program contest for all academy
members.
What the group did, with the help of the DOH, was to compile
the epidemiologic data on dengue in the Cordillera.
According to the department, the first outbreak in the region
was reported in Mt. Province in 1991. It was then known as the
''Bontoc rash.''
In 1992, Lamut and Lagawe towns in Ifugao had similar
outbreaks. In 1996, Baguio recorded 133 dengue cases and
Benguet, 117.
In 1997, Lamut was again hit with 116 cases, including two
deaths. Last year, the whole region had 2,229 cases.
Clueless
Cordillerans are generally clueless about dengue fever,
according to the 1998 national demographic survey on health
and fertility.
Nationwide, nine out of 10 Filipinos (91 percent) have heard of
the disease, but only 76.6 percent among Cordillerans. The
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao even fared better,
with 79.4 percent.
Compared with Ilocos (91.2 percent), Cagayan Valley (92.8
percent), Central Luzon (95.9 percent) and Metro Manila (98.9
percent), Cordillerans are definitely clueless, but this does not
mean ignorant.
Only 1 percent of Cordillerans interviewed said one can prevent
dengue by avoiding those afflicted (compared with 4.3 percent
nationwide, including 5.9 percent in Manila and 14.2 percent in
the ARMM).
One cannot, of course, prevent dengue by avoiding the sick.
Neither can one prevent it by taking medicines (there is no
dengue vaccine so far), by washing one's hands before eating,
or by eliminating flies.
Compared to the norm, more Cordillerans agree that these are
misconceptions.
But only 35.8 percent of them believe one can prevent dengue
by removing the breeding places of the mosquitoes, compared
to 65.9 percent nationwide and 81.8 percent in Manila.
More Cordillerans (30.2 percent) than Manileqos (22.7 percent)
believe that using mosquito nets is a deterrent.
Those in Cagayan Valley and Caraga (Agusan del Norte,
Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur)--areas
most affected by malaria--believe that a mosquito net is an
effective deterrent.
Almost 5 percent of Cordillerans do not know of any method to
prevent dengue, compared with 1.7 percent nationwide.
When the survey was made in 1997 or early 1998, Cordillerans
believed they were untouchable from dengue.
Occidental said there may be a reason for this complacency.
''Dengue is rarely found in elevations above 4,000 feet. Baguio is
5,200 feet above sea level,'' he said.
Interestingly, however, there was an overwhelming increase in
the incidence and spread of the disease in the region in 1998.
The DOH-CAR made a dengue larval survey in Barangay Irisan,
one of 84 (out of 124) barangays in Baguio City considered as a
dengue hot spot.
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