CITY OF MALOLOS — Dengue cases in Bulacan continue to rise as it reached almost 11,000 on Friday, according to the latest report from the Bulacan Provincial Health Office (PHO) on Saturday.
Based on PHO data, dengue cases reported in the province since January reached 10,945, which is 349 percent higher than the 2,435 recorded cases during the same period in 2021. Most of the cases only occurred in the past four weeks.
Dengue deaths since January have already reached 17.
Dr. Edwin Tecson, Bulacan Provincial Health Officer 1, said with such a number of cases, Bulacan has already surpassed the epidemic threshold.
Tecson said 40 percent of the cases were aged 11 to 20 years old.
Out of Bulacan’s 569 villages, 277 are in “clustering” and in “hot spot” classifications in the past weeks. “Clustering” is when cases continue to go up within four weeks period in an area while a “hot spot” is observed when there is a continuous increase in cases in successive weeks.
Governor Daniel Fernando ordered all mayors and barangay health officials to closely monitor and supervise the search and destroy operations in suspected prospective breeding grounds of the dengue-carrying mosquitoes and conduct spraying and fogging if necessary during an impending outbreak.
Fernando reminded residents to regularly conduct self-protection measures like avoiding unsanitized environments, wearing long sleeves and white clothes especially during the nighttime, using mosquito repellant lotion, and seeking early consultations when symptoms occur.
Bites of infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes spread the dengue virus to people. The infection triggers a severe flu-like illness often followed by a sharp drop in an infected person’s platelet count.
The symptoms include a sudden onset of fever with severe headache, severe pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pain, rash, easy bruising, and bleeding in the nose or gums.
READ: 2 more kids die of dengue fever in Zambales