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ILOILO – The Sanggunian Bayan (SB) of San Joaquin town declared a state of calamity, citing a dengue outbreak in Resolution No. 2022-161.
Between Jan. 1 and June 7, the town recorded 78 cases (no deaths) – sharply higher than the single case of dengue recorded in the same period last year.
“Per report of the San Joaquin Municipal Epidemiological Surveillance Unit of the Municipal Health Office as of June 7, 2022, data show that dengue cases in the Municipality of San Joaquin have far exceeded the maximum threshold level and have reached epidemic levels,” read part of the SB resolution.
The 78 dengue cases covered 21 barangays of San Joaquin.
Epidemic threshold refers to the level of occurrence of the disease above which an urgent response is required, as despite the needed efforts provided by the municipal and provincial governments, the number of cases still increase.
San Joaquin is consistently No. 1 in dengue cases among the municipalities in Iloilo province this year, according to the SB.
One of the considerations for declaring a state of calamity is when there is an extremely high incidence of a certain disease whether communicable or non-communicable within a community, in a specific period of time, specific health-related behavior, or other-related events clearly beyond normal expectancy.
According to Leo Satana, municipal administrator, stagnant water back when Typhoon “Odette” struck last December 2021 may have sparked the rise in dengue cases beginning in January.
Dengue is a viral disease caused by day-biting mosquitoes that breed in clear stagnant water.
People, too, may have become complacent, added Satana, because the town only had one dengue case last year.
Meanwhile, the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) said San Joaquin had clustering of dengue cases in the following barangays:
* Igburi (nine)
* Qui-anan (22)
* Lawigan (16 )
* Siwaragan (three)
The IPHO has a slightly higher count of dengue cases in San Joaquin than the town’s Municipal Epidemiological Surveillance Unit.
From Jan. 1 to June 11, the IPHO recorded 105 cases (zero deaths) in the municipality.
“So, 10,400 percent gid ang increase sang ila cases,” said Ma. Jennifer Joy Oñate, health education promotion officer II of the IPHO.
In the whole province, on the other hand, the IPHO recorded 460 dengue cases with six deaths.
The Municipal Health Office of San Joaquin launched its “Lihok Kontra Lamok” campaign to curb dengue cases. All 85 barangays of the town do, among others, cleanup to get rid of stagnant water.
Swampy areas are being applied with larvicides to kill wrigglers (larva of mosquito).
Dengue outbreak in Iloilo has an observed three-year cycle; there’s a marked surge in cases every three years.
In 2019 the province recorded 22,169 cases with 78 deaths; in 2020 there were 435 cases with 49 deaths and in 2021 there were 172 cases and zero deaths.
Here’s the IPHO breakdown of Iloilo’s 460 dengue cases:
* San Joaquin (105), Guimbal (49 cases with two deaths), Tubungan (46), Miag-ao (22 cases with one death), Oton (21), Pototan (18), Estancia (17), Tigbauan (16), Dumangas (11), Santa Barbara (10), Passi City (nine cases with one death), San Dionisio (nine)
* Balasan (eight), Concepcion, (eight), Carles (seven), Sara (seven), Cabatuan (seven), Calinog (seven), Leon (six), Barotac Nuevo (six), Igbaras (six cases with one death), Ajuy (five), San Enrique (fuive), Pavia (five), Dueñas (five), Alimodian (five), Janiuay (five)
* Dingle (four), Leganes (four cases with one death), New Lucena (four), Lemery (four), Batad (three), Zarraga (three), Barotac Viejo (three), Lambunao (two), Banate (two), Badiangan (two), Mina (one), San Miguel (one), Bingawan (one), and Maasin (one)
Only two towns remain dengue-free – San Rafael and Anilao./PN
