Batangas tops Chikungunya cases

Batangas City—While the provincial government was keen on fighting Dengue fever,  Batangas topped Chikungunya fever with 118 cases followed by Negros with 93 patients, and Antique with 57, according to a Department of Health report released yesterday.

In this city, about 80 percent of the residents in Brgy. Sirang Lupa have been suffering from Chikungunya fever for the last four weeks but the city government kept the cases a secret until  last August 1 when Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto discovered the outbreak on epidemic level. 

SLI has called the City Health Office a couple of times but the phonecalls were never answered. Two SLI sources from inside the office of Mayor Eddie Dimacuha said Brgy. Sirang Lupa was never in the priority of the mayor as he lost in the said barangay during the May polls. Dimacuha also didn’t answer this reporter’s calls.

“I immediately called the provincial health officer to act on this and meet with the Batangas City Health officer to solve this,” Gov. Vilma said,” And we also conducted an emergency meeting to help the affected residents of Sirang Lupa.”

According to the governor, Batangas can solve with problem with their info campaign and the DOH’s 4 o’clock habit.

The 4 o’clock habit is best practiced using the “stop, look, and listen” approach where people are asked to stop everything at 4 p.m., look for breeding sites of dengue-carrying mosquitoes and destroy them.

Listening entails heeding instructions from local authorities for synchronous implementation of the 4 o’clock habit.

“We’re doing good with our fight against Dengue.  We can fight Chikungunya too!” the governor added.

In the province, Chikungunya cases were also reported in Lipa City, Malvar, and Talisay.

Chikungunya virus is carried by infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the same carriers of the dengue virus. The virus causes high fever and severe joint pain. It also causes headache, muscle pain and rashes.

Chikungunya does not often result in death, but the symptoms can be disabling, and some people may get severe complications. Those who have been affected are left with severe rheumatic pains for a long time.

There is no specific medication yet available for treating chikungunya. (Mei Magsino,SLI)