By Liza Agoot
BAGUIO CITY – The City Health Services Office (CHSO) here on Tuesday said it started larval surveillance in barangays (villages) to ensure they remain free of mosquito breeding grounds amid rains from localized thunderstorms.
In an interview, Dr. Celia Flor Brillantes, city health officer, said the activity is a “response to the recent rainfalls and proactive measures for the rainy season.”
The surveillance was conducted in larger barangays, particularly in densely populated areas, with the initial round carried out in Barangay Irisan, which has a population of over 20,000.
“Among water containers sampled, over 20 percent per 100 households tested positive for larvae,” she said.
She explained that results suggest that even if only a few containers are infested, these are scattered across a large number of homes, increasing the chance of the dengue virus transferring from one house to another, as mosquitoes may travel as far as three miles from their breeding grounds.
She said they have issued a “high risk” status to alert the barangay to ramp up their “search and destroy” activities against mosquito breeding grounds.
Anticipating rains and with the recent showers in the city, authorities are keen to prevent a surge, which often leads to clustering, where multiple cases appear in a single neighborhood in a short span of time.
“Surveillance is ideally conducted before the rains start, where we identify breeding hotspots now and lower the population of Aedes mosquitoes before they multiply,” she added.
CHSO records showed Barangay Irisan tops the list of dengue cases, prompting immediate surveillance to determine the barangay’s risk level this year.
Sanitation Inspectors, Barangay Health Workers (BHWs), and Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) joined hands to scour residential areas and households of Irisan village. Their activity focused on searching for and collecting mosquito larvae (kiti-kiti), inspecting water containers, tires, and flower pots, and educating residents on the “search and destroy” method.
“The best is still preemptive. We clean our surroundings of things where water can accumulate and mosquitoes can breed. We do not choose what mosquito to kill, we eliminate all mosquitoes to ensure our safety and that of our loved ones,” she said, noting that mosquitoes breed even in small softdrink bottle caps.
“Dengue is a year-round threat, but early intervention in high-impact areas is the city’s best defense against a spike in dengue cases.” (PNA)
