The Provincial Health Office (PHO) has started its campaign to call on authorities down at the purok level to organize themselves into teams that would carry out monitoring of households for possible breeding areas of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

According to Leonidas Saniel, coordinator of the PHO’s dengue advocacy program, the “Purok Dengue Task Force” teams are tasked to “seek and destroy” mosquito-breeding places in their respective communities once or twice a week.

The teams are to be composed of five to six members including purok leaders, barangay councilors, barangay tanods (village watchmen) and teachers.

“Ang buhaton nila regularly, once or twice a week, search and destroy sa nga household para sa posibleng itloganan sa mga lamok, outside ug inside sa balay,” said Saniel.

The initiative can be done in cases in which local government units do not have sufficient anti-dengue programs, particularly in carrying out regular monitoring of households.

“Mao g’yud na among gi-instill sa mga huna-huna. Maoy g’yud nay [task force] i-create karong panahuna kay mao g;yud na so far best na prevention para di mo daghan ang dengue cases,” Saniel added.

Based on data from the Provincial Surveillance Epidemiology Unit, 1,459 cases have been recorded in Bohol from January 1 to October 27 with 17 cases which led to death.

The most number of dengue cases were recorded in Tagbilaran at 169 while most number of deaths due to dengue complications were in Dauis with four.

Below are the top 10 localities in Bohol with the most number of dengue cases in the same period.

Tagbilaran City – 169 cases, 2 deaths

Trinidad – 117 cases

Dauis – 102 cases, 4  deaths

Loon – 80 cases, 2 deaths

Talibon – 70 cases,  1 death

Cortes – 62 cases

Carlos P. Garcia – 61 cases

Ubay – 61 cases, 1 death

Carmen – 58 cases, 1 death

Bien Unido – 48 cases

(A. Doydora)