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KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines — The number of new dengue cases here since May 31 has hit 200, jacking up the figure from January to June 24 to 1,503 cases, the city health office said.
Dr. Duvia Tabugo, chief of the North Cotabato Integrated Provincial Health Office, said the number of patients who succumbed to the mosquito-borne disease in this city also rose to eight from January, with the death of a seven-year-old child from Barangay (village) Sudapen on June 7.
Tabugo said the high number of dengue cases made this city top the list of North Cotabato areas beset with the growing problem on the mosquito-borne disease.
“Fifty percent of the monitored dengue cases here were considered the common type but as deadly as the other types and most of the victims were children aged 10 years and below,” she said.
Tabugo said the Department of Health has intensified the campaign to clean up the usual breeding grounds of dengue-causing mosquitoes.
She said the DOH strengthened its teamwork with village officials for the strict implementation of the 4 o’clock habit.
The Center for Health and Development in Central Mindanao said region-wide, there were 3,518 dengue cases reported from January to June 24, nearly two times higher than what was recorded for the same period in 2012.
The CHD said that since the start of the year, 23 persons have already died of dengue in the provinces of North and South Cotabato, Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat and in the cities of General Santos, Tacurong, Koronadal and Kidapawan.
“This is alarming since the government is trying its best with so many campaigns against dengue for so many years. Unfortunately cases are still rising,” Myka Lintongan, a nurse assifned with CHD-12, said in an article published on the agency’s website.
Jenny Ventura, speaking for CHD-12, said the regional health office has been reminding residents that cleanliness has always been the best weapon against the dengue-carrying types of mosquitoes.