Kalinga dengue cases drop after outbreak

TABUK, Kalinga – The Cordillera office of the Center for Health Development downgraded the dengue outbreak in the province after the number of dengue cases dropped the past weeks because of interventions implemented by the agency.

However, Dr. Myrna Cabotaje, CHD-Cordillera director, said even if the alarm has been lowered, dengue alert is still prevailing in places where the number of cases remains high.

She said dengue cases in the province started to significantly increase last June with 58 suspected cases recorded in a span of one week.

According to her, the number of dengue cases rose to as much as 107 from July 27 to August 1, 2009.

For the first 37 weeks of this year, the CHD recorded 724 cases and three dengue-related deaths in the province, the highest so far in the history of Kalinga over the past four years.

Cabotaje said the rise in the number of dengue cases could have been caused by alleged mutation of the previous dengue virus that brought about a new one which now poses a threat to the condition of the people, especially children and senior citizens.

Based on blood serum analysis, experts have identified four types of dengue viruses.
She added a patient develops immunity from one type of virus after infection, but remains susceptible to other dengue viruses.

Cabotaje called on local officials and residents to clean their surroundings since it is still the best way to destroy the breeding ground of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

Earlier, the CHD-CAR declared a dengue outbreak in Bulanao and Tabuk in Kalinga and Lagawe in Ifugao.

The CHD-CAR recorded a total of 858 dengue fever cases in the region from January to September this year which is more than 30 percent higher than the 647 cases recorded for the same period last year.

Aside from the three deaths in Kalinga, the health department also recorded three dengue-related deaths in Ifugao, three in Benguet and two in Baguio City. – Dexter A. See