ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—Health officials here and in other parts of Mindanao have expressed alarm over the rising number of dengue cases, saying the mosquito-borne disease was of more immediate concern to them than the A(H1N1) virus.

Dr. Rodelin Agbulos, city health chief, said that while the new influenza strain was a cause for worry, people should be more afraid of dengue or hemorrhagic fever whose cases continue to rise.

Since January, four children have died of dengue and the yearlong toll could exceed the nine listed in 2008, Agbulos said.

“In May alone, we have recorded a total of 130 cases, and the number is increasing every day,” he said.

Agbulos said dengue had increasingly threatened children.

Dr. Aristedes Tan, regional health chief, said 470 dengue cases had already been recorded as of May in Western Mindanao. “We still don’t have confirmed A(H1N1) in this region,” he said.

Dengue is difficult to treat, said Dr. Jejunee Rivera, spokesperson of the Zamboanga City Medical Center. “Patients have to undergo a series of laboratory examinations, and once a patient has complications or if the dengue is on the advance stage, it’s more difficult to treat.”

Agbulos said that while the A(H1N1) could easily be treated, an advance dengue case could be fatal.

“(The treatment is) very expensive. Once the patient is already bleeding, we need to source out blood for platelets and it’s not just as easy as buying medicine for swine flu,” he said.

“We ought to be more vigilant as far as hemorrhagic fever is concerned,” Rivera said.

In Cagayan de Oro, health officials said they were also alarmed by the rise in the number of dengue cases in the city.

They launched a dengue awareness campaign last week, urging residents to work together to eliminate the disease-carrying mosquitoes from their communities. Among their recommendations was regular backyard cleaning.

The Department of Health in Northern Mindanao said that during the first half, 200 dengue cases had been recorded in Cagayan de Oro City alone. Four of them have died.

“We should actually be more afraid of dengue than swine flu because if we look at statistics, many have died of dengue while those who have the A(H1N1) virus easily recuperate,” said Dr. Jaime Bernadas, regional health director.