NewsDesk @bactiman63

The Tropical Disease Prevention & Control Unit of the Davao City Health Office (CHO) is closely monitoring signs and symptoms of the chikungunya virus, caused by Aedes mosquitoes, the same mosquito family spreading dengue fever.

Image/CDC

The barangays of Panacan and Ilang are being closely watched.

According to a tweet from Giselle Ombay with GMA News, Davao City has detected 17 suspected cases of the Chikungunya virus which is transmitted by infected mosquitos to humans, DOH-11 Director Annabelle Yumang confirmed.

Of this number, only three qualified for testing with pending results.

Yumang said the laboratory test results of the three cases received by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine will be released next week. All suspected cases “have recovered” and none of them got hospitalized as they all experienced mild symptoms.

Pest Control Worker II Melodina Babante said that Barangay Ilang experienced a chikungunya outbreak before. This is why confirmatory tests are currently being done to determine the new symptoms found in the barangay, as well as in Panacan, to properly address the problem.

Babante underscored the need for Dabawenyos to observe the 4-S – search and destroy mosquito-breeding sites, employ self-protection (wear long-sleeved shirts and pants and daily use of mosquito repellent), seek early consultation from barangay or district health centers whose consultation services and NS1 dengue detection kits are free, and support fogging/spraying.

Virus-carrying mosquitoes, according to her, have peak biting time usually two hours after sunrise, which is from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. that’s why she urged parents not to let their children leave the house at this time without protection.

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