BAGUIO CITY — With the start of classes in public elementary and high schools and the afternoon rains, the health office here has reiterated the need to protect children from mosquito-borne diseases.
“If possible, they should wear long sleeves. Parents can also check for stagnant water in the classrooms, for instance in vases, or the school compound because theseserve as the breeding areas of mosquitoes. ” assistant city health officer Dr. Celia Flor Brillantes told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Tuesday.
“They can help the teachers see the surroundings of the schools if there are any stagnant water,” she added.
Brillantes said mosquitoes can breed even in soda bottle caps that contain water.
“They will breed and lay eggs, and the next thing we know, we already have more mosquitoes in the school,” she said.
She also called for the regular cleaning of surroundings as a preventive measure.
“It is good that we have the Brigada Eskwela but it should not stop there. It has to be continued, especially by parents who are concerned with their own children and other children,” Brillantes said.
Once a year, before the opening of classes, the Department of Education launches the “Brigada Eskwela” program, wherein volunteers, parents, students and other stakeholders visit the school to join the cleanup and repair of facilities in time for the opening of classes.
During the Brigada, health offices also participate in the activity by fogging and spraying the premises to drive away mosquitoes.
Meanwhile, outgoing Mayor Mauricio Domogan, during the flag-raising ceremony on Monday, instructed the schools in the division and health officials to work together to protect school children against dengue, despite the drop in the number of cases in the city.
Statistics show that from May 12 to June 1, five cases of dengue were recorded in Baguio with no death — a 44.4 percent decrease from the nine cases recorded in the same period in 2018.
“Hopefully, we are not dealing with a city-wide problem. We are looking at pockets of dengue cases clustering — dengue cases clustered in one household or one barangay, two or three being affected. It is good it is contained within that area so that it would be easier to address it,” Domogan said.
Brillantes said personnel of the sanitation division and the various health centers under the city Health Services Office are reaching out to the households, teaching them how to clean their surroundings.
She said that in assuring the safety of residents, not only the children, “we go back to the basics” by cleaning the surroundings and ridding them of possible mosquito breeding grounds. **PNA
