Public urged to be vigilant vs dengue despite decrease in recorded cases

MANILA, Philippines – While dengue cases nationwide decreased compared to last year’s record, Health Secretary Enrique Ona warned the public on Wednesday not to be complacent as dengue was an “all year-round public death threat.”

In the Department of Health’s latest report, dengue cases throughout the country from January to September 3 was 27.08 percent lower compared to the same period in 2010.

For this year, there were 63,741 dengue cases with 373 deaths compared to 87,409 cases with 586 deaths last year, the DoH said in a statement.

Most of the cases came from the National Capital Region with 14,081, Central Luzon with 11,427, Calabarzon with 9,414, Ilocos region with 8,811, and Cagayan Valley with 3,942, it also said.

Ages of victims ranged from less than a month to 92 years old. Fifty-three percent of reported cases were male, and 41 percent belonged to the 1-10 years age group, the DoH said.

“The marked reduction in cases can be attributed to the concerted efforts of all stakeholders, especially local governments, who disseminated timely information to residents and spearheaded clean-up drives in their communities,” Ona said.

In the National Capital Region, most cases were from Quezon City with 4,385, Caloocan City with 1,802, Manila with 1,620, Valenzuela with 1,029, Pasig with 800 and Malabon with 706.

Ona urged the public to continue maintaining clean surroundings by ensuring that all possible mosquito breeding sites were destroyed or discarded. Such sites are empty softdrink bottles, bamboo husks, old tires, and flower vases.

While it is considered a preventable disease, Ona advised all suspect dengue cases to seek immediate medical consultation as soon as symptoms arise to prevent complications and deaths.

Some of the disease’s signs and symptoms include high continuous fever lasting for two to seven days, nausea/vomiting, abdominal pain, body weakness, bleeding from nose and gums, and persistent red spots on the face, extremities and trunks.

The Aedes Aegypti mosquito is the known carrier of dengue.