The Quezon City Health Department (QCHD) Sunday said it is setting up booths in the city’s shopping malls to ask people for blood donations for patients with dengue fever and other high-risk illnesses.

Dr. Antonietta Inumerable, chief of the QCHD, said the city government is negotiating with three SM malls at North Edsa, Cubao and Fairview and at Trinoma and Ever Gotesco in Commonwealth Avenue. Inumerable said the plan to expand the city’s blood-donation efforts will complement the mass donation blood donation activities currently being conducted at the city hall grounds.

With the increasing number of dengue cases, Mayor Herbert Bautista initiated a massive anti-dengue information drive to widen the city’s dengue control measures. The information campaign underscores the importance of maintaining cleanliness and sanitation in reducing the number of potential breeding grounds for the dengue-carrying mosquitoes, which usually thrives on stagnant water on old tires, roof gutters, refrigerator drainers and indoor plants.

From August 1 to 20, the epidemiology and surveillance unit of the city health department reported about 3,948 dengue cases, with 29 death cases. This year’s cases registered a 125.2 percent change in the number of cases as compared with the same period last year.

However, despite the increase, Quezon City only managed to register the ninth highest number of dengue cases among Metro Manila’s 17 cities and municipalities, taking into account its population. Barangays with the most number of dengue cases are Bagbag, San Bartolome, Commonwealth, Batasan Hills, Gulod, Holy Spirit, Sauyo, Sta. Monica and Novaliches Proper.

The city government has also set up larvitraps in some barangays to alert the public on the index of mosquitoes. The Health Department also installed ovilarvicidal traps in the dengue hotspots to control the density of the dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

Meanwhile, in Las Piñas, the city government Sunday created a Barangay Dengue Brigade that will conduct massive clean-up to spare the city of a dengue outbreak. 

Barangay officials were instructed to conduct a weekly clean-up and coordinate with the city health officials in the monitoring of dengue cases in Metro Manila. Mayor Vergel Aguilar said that participation of homeowners in the clean-up drive in their respective barangays and disseminate information and awareness regarding Dengue prevention and control is also necessary to help barangay officials as well as health center personnel.

Aguilar appealed to the residents, homeowners and school authorities to strengthen and maintain regular clean up drive in their areas to arrest the spread of the disease. He also told the city health office to continue its disease surveillance operations, introduction of Ovi-Larvi trap in schools and communities and fogging operations and illness source reduction through active community participation.

In Baguio City, the Cordillera office of the Department of Health reported that 13 individuals in the region died due to dengue fever while 49 barangays recorded clustered dengue cases, prompting health authorities to place them in the dengue watchlist. Health officials revealed that clustered cases exist in an area when there are three or more recorded dengue cases in a barangay over a period of four weeks.

Clustering of dengue fever cases were reported in Barangays Hillside, Loakan proper, Guisad Central, Bakakeng Central, Lower Quirino Hill, Pinget and Camp 7. 

From the 261 dengue fever cases reported since January, two patients died.In Benguet, clustered dengue fever cases were reported in Barangays Ambiong, Balili, Puguis, Tawang and Pico in La Trinidad. Barangays Ampucao and Virac in Itogon also reported clustering of dengue fever cases. Since January this year, Benguet reported three dengue-related cases prompting health workers to alert people in rural health units. Clustered dengue fever cases in Ifugao were also reported. Abra, which reported two dengue-related deaths, also recorded clustered cases. In Kalinga, dengue-related deaths reached five individuals and that clustered dengue fever cases were reported in several barangays. Mountain Province recorded no dengue deaths for eight months.

While there was a significant increase in the number of deaths due to dengue fever, health officials claimed there was a 47 percent decrease in the number of dengue fever cases from January to the present with 2,151 cases compared to the 4,092 dengue fever cases during the same period last year. (with reports by Jean Fernando and Dexter See)