LAUR, Nueva Ecija – The municipal government has declared a Chikungunya outbreak after cases of the mosquito-borne infection surged to over 500, prompting health and local officials and residents from three worst-affected villages to hold a prevention summit in Barangay Siclong here.
Physician Karoline Gabuyo, municipal health officer, said on Monday that Chikungunya, a virus that spread through mosquitoes called “aedes,” has afflicted 382 persons in Barangay Siclong; 37 in Barangay San Fernando and 192 in Barangay San Vicente, all outskirt villages of the town, in the past two weeks.
Dr. Benjamin Lopez, provincial health officer, said that Chikungunya also affected over 150 in San Leonardo town and 70 in San Isidro.
Laur, a basically mountainous municipality is located in the eastern part of Nueva Ecija while San Leonardo and San Isidro are in the south.
Gabuyo said that the declaration of an outbreak enabled them to distribute paracetamol, ascorbic acid and mefenamic acid to contain symptoms which are high fever, sore joints and muscle pains, severe headache and rashes.
The PHO and the Department of Health have also distributed insecticides and larvicides on top of their campaign for cleanliness.
They also resorted to stage play, employing two giant mosquito mascots and residents, to underscore the need to keep the environment free from potential mosquito breeding grounds and proper use of fogging chemicals.
They also had a motorcade.
Lopez, however, said that no fatality caused by Chicungunya has so far been reported in Nueva Ecija. This, he said, spelled the difference between the disease and another mosquito-carried infection, dengue.
Christine Sales, 27, said she had hard time coping with severe pains when she woke up one morning. “Halos hindi ako makagalaw sa sakit ng katawan,” Sales said as she showed rashes all over her face, body and arms during the summit.
The pains, she added, subsided after taking paracetamol for a week.
But Gabuyo said symptoms are heavier for patients aged one year and 65 years above.
