Facade of the Department of Health office in Manila. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila is one of the regions with the highest number of dengue cases for the past five years, an official from the health department said.
In a media conference on Saturday, Dr. Kim Patrick Tejano, medical officer from the Department of Health’s (DOH) Disease Prevention and Control Bureau, revealed which regions produce the highest number of dengue cases.
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“Over the past five years, ‘yung ating mga regions na may pinakamalaking population historically sila ‘yung pinakamalaking dengue cases,” he said.
(Over the past five years, our regions with the largest populations have historically had the highest number of dengue cases.)
“Mga highly urbanized na gaya ng NCR [National Capital Region], Region 3, and 4A, sila ‘yung mga region na mataas,” Tejano added.
(Highly urbanized regions like the NCR (National Capital Region), Region 3, and Region 4A are the ones with high dengue cases.)
Because there are more people in urbanized areas, more are also storing water, which serves as breeding grounds for mosquitoes, he explained.
Despite the remaining prevalence of dengue and the onset of the rainy season, Tejano also said that no manufacturer has applied for an intent to supply dengue vaccines to the Philippines yet.
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Tejano also debunked the belief that herbal medicines are a remedy for dengue.
He noted that there is no proven cure yet for the viral disease as of the moment.
“Sa ngayon, wala pang proven effective anti-viral laban sa dengue, kaya po pinakamaigi pong gawin ay magpakonsulta sa inyong health care provider para alam po kung ano ang mas nararapat ibigay na lunas sa mga sintomas po natin,” Tejano said.
(As of now, there is no proven effective antiviral treatment for dengue, so the best thing to do is to consult your health care provider to know the most appropriate remedy for your symptoms.)
“Sa ngayon po ‘yung tawat-tawa, siling labuyo, bayabas, they have no proven effects yet against dengue,” he added.
(As of now, tawa-tawa, siling labuyo, and bayabas have no proven effects against dengue.)