No dengue epidemic in QC despite hike in cases

Dengue cases in Quezon City went up by more than 100 percent in the first seven months of the year compared to the same period in 2010.

City health officer Dr. Antonieta Inumerable told the Inquirer yesterday that from January to July this year, a total of 2,770 cases were reported, up from 1,069 during the same period in 2010.

Similarly, the number of deaths due to the mosquito-borne disease went up this year to 21, nearly double the 12 deaths reported in the first seven months of 2010, according to the city health department’s epidemiology and surveillance unit.

However, despite the rise in the number of cases and dengue-related deaths, the disease has yet to reach epidemic proportions in the city, Inumerable said.

Still, the city health department has designated priority lanes in health centers so that patients complaining of dengue-like symptoms can be given immediate medical attention, she added.

Inumerable said that of the 21 people who died due to the disease from January to July this year, 17 were from the second district.

Two villages from the second district also registered the highest number of cases so far this year.

A total of 179 cases were reported in Barangay (village) Bagbag followed by San Bartolome with 144 cases. Both areas are in Novaliches.

On the other hand, nine barangays in Districts 3 and 4 registered one case each.

Inumerable noted that the majority of those who came down with the disease this year were children between the ages of one and 10.