The 11 persons who found it difficult to breathe after inhaling smoke during a mosquito fogging in an urban poor community in Valenzuela City this morning, June 26, are now in stable condition, the local health officer said.

Dr. Jaime Exconde, Officer in charge of the City Health Office (CHO), said the patients – which include two female children aged three and 12, one pregnant woman and two male elderly – have received treatment at the Valenzuela Medical Center. By noon, all patients were still at the hospital for doctors’ observation.

This is the first time in four years residents in the city experienced adverse effects from fogging.

Exconde said that at around 7:00 a.m., CHO personnel conducted fogging at Simeon Doon Compound in Barangay Karuhatan, after the office recently monitored at least three cases of hemorrhagic fever in the area.

Karuhatan consistently ranks high in the number of dengue cases, CHO morbidity statistics show.

Exconde said that the chemical used, deltamethrine, is water-based, non-toxic, and passed Department of Health standards. The mixture consisted of a liter of the chemical for every 10 liters of water, the appropriate amount for a congested area like Simeon Doon, Exconde said, disproving rumors that the mixture used was too strong.

The chemical has been used since the CHO begun fogging communities to kill Aedes aeqypti and Aedes albopictus, dengue-carrying mosquito species, around 15 years ago.

The fogging team followed protocols, including informing Simeon Doon residents, Exconde maintained.  Residents were also made to either shut their windows and doors; or get out of their houses.

Besides difficulty of breathing, the residents who inhaled smoke also suffered from throat irritation and dizziness, Exconde said. The defogging team, on the other hand, had no ill effects from the procedure.

Fogging is regularly done in communities in Valenzuela to curb the spread of dengue fever. Indications that a community need fogging include reports of dengue cases and an increase in the number of mosquito larvae collected by larvitraps, tin cans placed in an isolated spot inside houses.

From January 1 to June 20, a total of 179 dengue cases, including one death, has been recorded by the CHO. This is 171.2 per cent higher than 66, the figure recorded in the same period last year.