Dengue cases down by 60%—DOH
The number of dengue cases in the country dropped by more than 60 percent last month but 23 deaths were reported due to the mosquito-borne disease, the Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday.
In a report, the DOH said there were only 4,753 dengue cases reported in different sentinel hospitals nationwide from Jan. 1 to Feb. 4, 2012.
“This is 60.54 percent lower compared to the same time period last year (when) 12,044 (cases were reported),” the DOH said.
The report said most of the cases were from Central Luzon (33.07 percent), the National Capital Region (21.42 percent), and the Calabarzon region (16.39 percent).
It added that of the 23 reported deaths due to dengue, five came from both Central Luzon and Calabarzon, four from Eastern Visayas and Metro Manila, three from Southern Mindanao, and one from Caraga and the Cagayan Valley.
The ages of the new dengue patients ranged from less than 1 month to 89 years old and 54 percent of them were male.
“Thirty-eight percent of cases belonged to the 11-20 years age group,” the DOH said.
In the National Capital Region, Manila had the highest number of cases (255) and followed by Quezon City (148), Caloocan City (127), Valenzuela (78), and Taguig (76).
