Dumaguete City (CNN Philippines) — The Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) Negros Oriental declared a dengue outbreak in two cities in the province.
Dr. Socrates Villamor, IPHO head, said that a dengue outbreak was declared in Guihulgan and Canlaon last week.
Investigations conducted in these areas by the team from the Regional Epidemiological Survey Unit (RESU) showed that most of the victims are students of a state university in Guihulngan who are renting boarding houses at the back of the Guihulngan City District Hospital.
Villamor said a total of 176 dengue cases were reported. He added that in Guihulngan City alone more than 90 dengue cases were recorded in just one month and the rest of the cases were from the outskirt barangays.
IPHO has already provided technical assistance to Guihulngan City by distributing treated mosquito nets and by conducting a massive cleanliness drive in the affected areas to destroy the possible breeding places of dengue-carrying mosquitos.
Villamor also made it clear that it’s only an outbreak not an epidemic.
He urged everyone to observe the habit of destroying possible breeding sites of dengue-carrying mosquitos every day not just during outbreaks.
