Dengue cases up by 246 percent in Central Luzon

SAN FERNANDO CITY — The Department of Health reported Monday that a total of 9,701 people in Central Luzon have been downed by dengue fever, a 246 percent jump in this year’s cases of the mosquito-borne disease in the region.

“We hope that no more would be added to these fatalities,” DoH Regional Director Rio Magpantay, referring to the 28 dengue victims who died in Region 3 from January to August this year. Five of these deaths were reported in this province.

Citing DoH Region 3 records, Magpantay said one of the most critical weeks in terms of dengue morbidity was Week 33, which covered August 14-28.

She said Bulacan had the most number of dengue cases so far with 3,096, followed by Pampanga 2,172 cases, then Nueva Ecija 2,080.

Tarlac posted 1,213 dengue cases, Bataan reported 593, Zambales had 398, and Aurora had 126.

Among the dengue victims, 53 percent of the cases were male.

Dengue outbreaks were declared in Dingalan, Aurora this year, but these were already contained.

Some villages in the provinces of Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga and Tarlac have tagged as clustering sites, which means there had been three or more dengue patients in the barangay for the past four consecutive weeks.

The Health Department continues to encourage the public to follow the "4S" program against dengue – Search and destroy mosquito breeding sites; Self-protection measures, Seek early treatment; and Say “no” to indiscriminate fogging.

DoH officials also see hope in 2014 when a vaccine for dengue is expected to be available in the market.

In Baguio City, Mayor Mauricio Domogan said
dengue cases decreased by 60 percent this year as per report of the city health office.

Domogan said during a meeting of the city health board, there was need to continue providing assistance to the barangays in sustaining their clean-up drive to destroy mosquito breeding sites.

He also called on barangay officials to spearhead regular clean-up activities in their areas to sustain the downtrend.