MORE NEWS, PAMPANGA

C. Luzon dengue cases up; 2,167 folk affected
By George Trillo

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – There have been 2,167 cases of dengue fever in Central Luzon this year, or 273.6 percent higher than last year’s wherein two deaths were reported. The DOH regional office based their data from the seven Central Luzon provinces in an updated report, citing Pampanga as having the most number of dengue cases.

Nurse Marilou Pajarillaga, of the DOH regional epidemiology surveillance unit, said, however, mosquito-borne dengue fever has not yet reached epidemic proportions in the region.

According to the latest statistics, there have been 796 dengue cases this year in Pampanga, 481 in Bulacan, 394 in Nueva Ecija, 177 in Tarlac, 172 in Zambales, 140 in Bataan, and only seven in Aurora.

Pajarillaga said the number of deaths rose to 17 from 15 a month ago – five in Pampanga and four each in Bataan, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija.

“We have observed clustered dengue cases in Barangays Pulong Santol and Sta. Cruz in Porac, Pampanga, but it seems officials have already done some fogging in these areas,” she said.

Pajarillaga said the latest figures indicate a 273.6 percent increase from the same period last year when Central Luzon had only 580 dengue cases.

She said most of the victims were school children. To address this, the DOH held at the provincial capitol here an anti-dengue forum attended by public school teachers from all over Pampanga. Similar fora for teachers are being held in other Central Luzon provinces.

During his recent visit to Angeles City, Health Secretary Francisco Duque warned the number of dengue cases this year could be “phenomenal” and could surpass the 1998 record. “Our highest (number of cases) was in 1998. Let’s cross our fingers and hope we don’t reach that, but there are indications it could reach, even surpass (the record),” Duque told reporters during the inauguration of the 11-story Dr. Evangeline Macapagal medical tower of the Angeles University Foundation Medical Center in Angeles City. “Let’s brace for the worse, but we are not helpless,” he said.

Duque added: “The trend (has been) going up since 2005 because of global warming which causes mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus to become extremely hyperactive. Because they are hyperactive, they have to feed more and bite more.”

Apart from global warming, he said the increase in dengue cases could also be attributed to urbanization and congestion.

“We now have more people, more congestion so mosquitoes do not have to travel far to transmit their virus,” he said.

He said in 1998, nearly 40,000 dengue cases, 500 of them fatal, were reported, noting that the DOH then had only “very few reporting satellites,” which are government clinics and hospitals which report dengue cases to the DOH. Statistics from private hospitals were not even reflected in the 1998 figures.

The DOH noted that nationwide, more than 15,000 dengue cases have been reported in the first six months of this year, or 43 percent more than the same period last year, with Metro Manila still topping the list with the most cases.

Other provinces with high numbers of dengue cases are Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon. But the dengue fatality rate remains low at one percent, which the DOH attributed to the quick response of the patients’ families and health workers.


Police tag crime gangs in Pampanga ‘salvagings’
By George Trillo

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – Criminal syndicates operating in Angeles City could be behind the “salvaging” (summary execution) of two men whose bodies were dumped in Magalang and Porac towns recently. Senior Supt. Keith Singian, Pampanga police director bared this saying the victims could have been killed as a result of conflicts within these syndicates.

One of the bodies, without a head, was dumped in Magalang. Supt. Rodney Louie Baloyo IV, town police chief, said the victim could have belonged to a robbery-holdup gang operating in Angeles City.

The second victim, whose body was found at the anti-lahar megadike in Porac, was reportedly also involved in illegal activities, according to local police chief Supt. Rolly Mendoza.

The bodies of three other men also surfaced in Arayat town recently. Police said the victims could have been abducted and killed in Nueva Ecija and their bodies dumped in Porac to mislead investigators.