The city health office here has called on households to rid their surroundings of mosquito-breeding sites to help prevent dengue and the loss of lives.

Iloilo City’s dengue cases from Jan. 1 to July 4 have reached 326, including three deaths. This marks an increase of 54.4 percent compared to the same period last year.

“We intensify our campaign against dengue. We encourage barangays, every household to conduct regular cleanup of their surroundings,” Assistant City Health Officer Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna said in a media interview on Wednesday.

The clustering of cases, which happens when a village has three or more cases in four consecutive weeks, has been recorded in Barangays Lanit, Camalig, and Tabuc Suba in Jaro; Sto Niño Norte, Calaparan, and Sta. Filomena in Arevalo; and Calumpang in Molo.

Fortuna said he visited the houses of three patients in Lanit on Tuesday and found breeding sites just beside the jetmatic pumps of two houses, along with an old bowl with stagnant water.

The barangay, he said, has a creek where water becomes stagnant and can be a breeding place due to the lush vegetation of a gardening project.

“If they will not cooperate, there is a possibility that cases will continue to increase,” he added.

The CHO continues to hold dialogues in barangays, distribute larvicide, and campaign for the conduct of regular afternoon cleanup.

Amid the increasing cases, Fortuna said they have not yet reached the parameters to be considered an outbreak although the threshold, which is computed based on a three-year average is increasing.

Fortuna said the purpose of their campaign is to reduce the number of cases and prevent deaths.

The dengue mortalities in the city included a 15-year-old and a 28-year-old from Barangays So-oc and Calahunan in January, respectively, and a nine-year-old from Sto. Niño Norte in May. (PNA)