Cordillera dengue cases down by 38 percent

byLito Dar

BAGUIO CITY—Cordillera dengue cases are down in the Cordillera but Department of Health dengue program coordinator Dr. Alexei Marrero said the public should not be complacent.

“Dengue prevention is a shared responsibility of all, although the number of cases is going down, we should not top efforts in preventing occurrence of dengue cases in our communities,” he said.

Marrero said rains still come and go, which means mosquito breeding sites still abound in surroundings so there is still a need for the public to practice the DOH advocacy on 4S, especially on destroying mosquito breeding sites and seeking early consultation.

The other two of the 4S habit are self protection measures and putting a stop to indiscriminate fogging.

Marrero said based on data of DOH cases of dengue in Cordillera is down by 38 percent, from 6,172 in 2010 to 3,791 this year.

Dengue cases are down in all provinces except those who were confined in hospitals within the region but reside outside Cordillera with a notable increase from 203 last year to 283 cases this year.

In Abra, there was a decrease from 376 in 2010 to 362 cases this year; Apayao from 199 to 34 or 83% decrease; Baguio City from 1,270 to 468 or 63 percent decrease; Benguet from 1,112 to 430 or 61% decrease; Ifugao from 1,092 to 98 or 17% decrease; Kalinga from 1,019 to 795 or 22% decrease; and Mountain Province from 856 to 511 or 40 % decrease.

However, there was an increase in deaths recorded at 17 cases this year compared to the 13 cases reported last year.

Age bracket of deaths ranged from one year old to 57 years old.

On dengue mortality per province, Abra, Apayao, Kalinga registered four cases each, two in Baguio City, one in Apayao and two non-Cordillera patients.

Meantime, the DOH, in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology is also distributing ovicidal-larvicidal trap kits effective in fighting dengue carrier mosquitoes to pre-identified dengue prone communities in Cordillera.

According to Marrero, 15,000 OL trap dits were allocated for Baguio City, 6,000 to Paracelis, Mountain Province, 5,000 to Alfonso ListaIfugao and for Tabuk City Ifugao.