Global warming, rapid urbanization blamed for dengue surge
By Katherine Evangelista
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 15:46:00 06/02/2008
Filed Under: Weather, Climate Change, Diseases, Health
MANILA, Philippines -- Global warming and rapid urbanization are believed to be two of the major causes of dengue, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Monday.
Appearing at the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Hotel, Duque said the warm temperatures make the virus-carrying mosquitoes more active. He said countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico, and Brazil have reported increases of dengue cases in their country and that even those that did not have dengue before have had reported of cases.
There has been a shift of trend beginning 2005, Duque added.
Before, the dengue cases would peak every three years. However, starting 2005 and 2006, there has been a continuous increase in the number of cases of dengue in the country annually. Based on the current trend, the Department of Health (DoH) suspects the total number of dengue cases for 2008 would exceed the statistics for 2007.
Earlier, Enrique Tayag, director of the National Epidemiology Center said 40,000 more dengue cases are projected when the rainy season kicks in.
Based on the statistics provided by the DoH, from January until May 3, the number of dengue cases in the country reached 10,841. This is 35.6 percent higher than last year’s 7,992 cases for the same period.
The National Capital Region (NCR), Regions 3, 4-A, 6, 7, 9, and 11 have the highest number of cases. In the NCR, the cities of Manila, Kalookan, and Quezon have the highest number of cases.
Duque added that slum areas which are not properly cleaned are common breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
Since there is no cure or vaccine for the dengue virus, it is better to prevent it by maintaining clean surroundings, said Duque.
He added concerted effort by communities is needed for the campaign to work.
Meanwhile, the budget for the anti-dengue campaign has been increased from P25 million to P50 million, said Duque. This amount excludes the budget allocation for different hospitals. All in all, the budget for the anti-dengue campaign exceeds P100 million, said Duque.
Duque clarified that there is no epidemic yet and the fatality rate in the Philippines remains to be a tolerable 1 percent margin. The global standard of fatality cases is 2 percent, said Duque.
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