Dengue cases dropped 23% in October

MANILA, Philippines — While the number of dengue cases dropped in October, the Department of Health (DOH) still urged the public to sustain its efforts to prevent the spread of the mosquito-borne disease.

The latest monitoring of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau showed 5,927 new dengue cases from Oct. 13 to 19, which is 23 percent lower than the 7,656 cases in the same period last year.

The number of deaths during the period also dropped by half, with only 20 deaths reported from Oct. 13 to 19 this year compared to 40 deaths in the same period in 2018.

“Usually the trend is really decreasing number of cases toward the end of the year,” Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said.

“But we cannot be complacent because the climate is changing and we are still getting rains that produce breeding grounds for mosquitoes,” he added.

According to the DOH official, dengue is now a year-round disease. “We have to remain vigilant and maintain our dengue prevention activities,” he said.

A total of 371,717 dengue cases, with 1,407 deaths, were reported from Jan. 1 to Oct. 19 this year, more than double the 180,072 cases and 927 deaths recorded in 2018.

The dengue virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

More than 80,000 of the patients this year were children between 5 and 9 years old, DOH records showed.