DOH alarmed by spike in dengue cases in Davao City

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The Department of Health’s regional office in Southern Mindanao has voiced concern over the sharp increase in dengue cases in Davao City, saying “it has become unmanageably high” with 2,447 cases from January to June 15 this year compared with 1,175 cases during the same period in 2011.

As of June 12, DOH recorded a total of 27 deaths in the city, almost three times the 10 deaths recorded during the same period last year.

In fact, Health Secretary Enrique Ona has ordered DOH regional director Abdullah Dumama to intensify monitoring in all areas with more focus on the “dengue hotspots” or clustered areas were cases are more than three namely: Talomo North, Talomo South, Buhangin, Bunawan and Agdao.

Dumama said Davao City has the highest number of cases in the region, with 82 percent of the 3,000 total cases for the entire Davao Region.

Despite high number of dengue cases, Dumama said it is not considered an outbreak.

According to Dumama, a team from DOH was already deployed to investigate, validate, track cases, inspect possible breeding places and institute control measures.