Dengue kills 1, sickens 166

Local health workers in Virac are working doubly hard to address a worrying rise in the number of suspect
dengue cases in the past two months, with one death among the 166 cases so far in 2016 attributed to the
disease.
According to the Provincial Health Office, the lone fatality recorded last Sept. 24 in San Isidro Village meant
the number of deaths is about halfway to the 15 recorded in 2015. From just 99 suspect dengue cases for the
first seven months of 2016, the number of people infected by carrier Aedes aegypti mosquitoes jumped by 67
with a week to go before Septembers end.
The same data showed that the topnotcher barangays with the most number of cases are SIV with 30,
Calatagan with 24, Bigaa with 15, Gogon Centro with 12, Cavinitan with 10 and Danicop with 9. Last year,
almost the same villages figured among the areas hard-hit by dengue.
The Rural Health Unit and the PHO have ramped up their information and education campaign, urging people
to search and destroy the breeding places of the mosquito such as flower pots, water drums and pails,
gutters, old tires, tin cans, jars, bottles and other items that collect and hold water.
Aedes aegypti mosquitoes bite during the day, lay eggs in clear and stagnant water, and rest in dark places of
the house.
Signs and symptoms include sudden onset of fever which may last from two to seven days, joint and muscle
pain, pain behind the eyes, weakness, skin rashes, nose bleeding when the fever starts to subside, abdominal
pain, vomiting of coffee-colored matter, and dark-colored stools.
Those who have experienced fever for two days should seek consultation with a doctor, they said as they
advised residents to use insect repellent and wear long-sleeved shirts.

House wants higher penalties for drunk, drug-using drivers

The House Committee on Transportation last week tackled a bill seeking to amend Republic Act 10586, or the
Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act, by increasing the penalties for persons driving under the influence of
drugs or alcohol.
Committee chairman Rep. Cesar Sarmiento expressed support for House Bill No. 5 filed by Speaker Bebot
Alvarez, Majority Leader Rodolfo Farias and Minority Leader Danilo Suarez.
Ipapasa natin itong panukalang ito. Papataasin natin ang multa sa mga walang hiyang drayber na
gumagamit ng droga at alcohol na pumepeligro sa ating mga mananakay, he said during the Sept. 27
meeting, stressing that some PUV drivers are using drugs to work even without sleep and that many motorists
have made it a habit to drink intoxicating alcohol and then drive their vehicles.
If we pass this law, not only will we be able to protect the lives of the drivers, passengers and third persons
but we will also be able to prevent traffic congestion due to accidents caused by drunk drivers, Sarmiento
declared.
However, the law cannot just be amended if we know that the implementation would be difficult, he said.
Sarmiento asked the LTO and the PNP Highway Patrol Group for an accounting, after more than a year of
implementation, of the procured breath analyzer kits, its distribution per region, the training of law enforcers
had been trained, apprehension of drivers, and the status of the nationwide information, education and
communication (IEC) campaign.
He also asked the concerned agencies to update the committee on the issuance of drivers license cards and
vehicle plates, the ROW acquisition for LRT Line 1 Cavite Extension (Package I), the improvement of the
MMDA-operated interim Southwest Integrated Provincial Terminal (SWIPT), and route rationalization.
The committee chairman also clarified some misconstrued actions of the committee as reported in the news.
Unlike the news reports, we did not put on hold or deferred the proposal to designate Secretary Art Tugade as
traffic crisis manager, he said. Una po, the proposal to designate the Transportation Secretary as traffic
crisis manager is only one of the many proposals included in the traffic crisis bills pending with this
Committee. We are considering all of the powers and projects requested not just that particular proposal.
The 10 traffic crisis bills pending with the Committee are undergoing the normal legislative process, the chair
stated, and referred them to a Sub-Committee or Technical Working Group to harmonize the bills with the
help of inputs from various stakeholders.

Wala po kaming confidence or trust issue kay Secretary Tugade o sa mga bagong officials ng Department of
Transportation. We are here to work with them and enable them to solve the traffic crisis even to the point of
giving them special powers to achieve the needed change in the transportation sector, he said.
The committee has requested DOTr to submit some documents needed in fine-tuning the contents of the
traffic crisis bills, the congressman stated, adding that he has been asking the department to define the scope
of the crisis since the various traffic crisis bills, including the proposed bill of the Department of
Transportation, are not in agreement.
While the hearing is not put on hold, Sarmiento stressed, the committee can only resume the deliberation of
the traffic crisis bills after October 7, as the priority of the House of Representatives is the plenary
deliberations of the 2017 budget beginning Sept. 28, with all regular and TWG hearings are suspended for two
weeks.
28 dengue cases alarm Catanduanes Health Office
MV Basmayor 8:38:00 PM 1 min read (146 words)
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CATANDUANESThe Provincial Health Office of Catanduanes sounded alarm as 28 cases of dengue were
recorded at the Provincial Epidemiological Surveillance Unit (PESU) in Baras town from April 13 to May 17.

Dengue mosquito
Photo from Asian Journal
This was confirmed by Provincial Health Officer Dr. Hazel A. Palmes today.

Palmes revealed that the PESU is currently waiting for the confirmatory test from the Research Institute of
Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Manila relative to the dengue cases.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) is now conducting campaigns to eradicate the dreaded disease as
the nation celebrates Dengue Awarness Month this June.

DOH said that from January 1 to May 3, around 19,000 cases of dengue have been recorded by the National
Epidemiology Center.BICOLSTANDARD.COM