The Quezon City government, on orders of Mayor Herbert Bautista, has turned over 79 folding beds to the Quirino Memorial Medical Center (QMMC) in Proj. 4 to help it accommodate more patients, especially those who have contracted dengue fever.
Aside from the new beds, QC also provided additional electric fans to provide comfort to the patients, some of whom were already occupying the hospital hallways.
QMMC medical director Angeles de Leon personally received the donation from officials of the QC health department, which was represented during the occasion by Dr. Mary Rochel Paulino, Medical Specialist I.
Receiving the bulk of the QC donation is QMMC’s pediatric ward.
From August 1 to 15, QMMCs department of pediatrics reported an admission of 74 dengue cases from Quezon City.
Barangay Old Balara accounts for the most number of admissions, said Dr. Bella Vitangcol, chair of QMMC’s pediatrics department.
To date, the city health department, headed by Dr. Antonieta Inumerable, has been taking all the necessary precautionary measures to avert possible dengue outbreaks in the city.
The measures include a continuing information dissemination campaign to raise the level of awareness of city residents in curbing the spread of the dreaded disease.
The department also launched an emergency mosquito control program by distributing larvae traps to schools and by targeting adult mosquitoes during supervised and space spraying activities.
Meanwhile, the Mayor has mobilized barangay officials to assist city health workers in the information drive, which underscores the importance of maintaining cleanliness in reducing the number of potential breeding grounds of the dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
As of August 20 this year, the city health department reported about 3,948 dengue cases from January to August, which was 125.2 % higher than the 1,753 cases reported during the same period last year. To date, the disease has already claimed 29 lives, mostly from urban poor communities in District II.
Barangay Bagbag registered the most number of dengue cases with 227 and one death.
Barangay Batasan Hills registered the most number of deaths with four, and Barangay Commonwealth had three deaths. Precy/ Jonah/ Maureen Quiñones, PAISO
